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Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher

By Jeremy Feist | Posted Under Book Reviews | Comments (16)

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There’s a saying in my family that goes “Never let the truth get in the way of a good story,” and if anything, this might be the best way to encapsulate Carrie Fisher’s autobiography, Wishful Drinking. It may seem paradoxical to wish that someone would stretch the truth in their own life story, but, well, it’s a little more complicated than that.

You might recognize Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia from Star Wars, of from her stand-up shows, or (If you happen to have a fetish for hairbuns and golden bikinis) your masturbatory fantasies. Admit it: If you grew up in the ’70s, you totally fingerblasted yourself to Leia.

Anyway, in Wishful Drinking, Fisher delves into her past, retelling stories about gay men dying in her bed, Hollywood inbreeding, growing up on Broadway, becoming a Pez dispenser, marrying/divorcing Paul Simon, bipolarity and electro-convulsive therapy, getting an intervention from Cary Grant and, of course, Star Wars (and to a certain extent, why you cannot wear a bra in space, lest you be strangled by your undergarments.)

Now, it’s not that any of these stories are boring, or that she’s not a good writer (the fact that her book, Postcards from the Edge, was adapted into an Academy Award winning movie has proven this), it’s just that she doesn’t really add much else to the story. It’s a delicious dish without the spice: perfectly good, but there’s no added zest to it, nothing that really separates or distinguishes it from the others. I enjoyed it, yes, but I enjoy a lot of things. Length is a bit of an issue as well. There’s nothing wrong with a quick read, but the short length of the book doesn’t really give Fisher much time to establish much of a unique voice.

Think of it this way: If you’re going to spend a day at the beach and you need something to read and finish by the time you head home, you can’t go wrong with some Carrie Fisher.

This review is part of the Cannonball Read series. For more of Jeremy’s reviews, check out his site, Notes on a Bar Napkin. There may also be nudity. Be warned.









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Comments

I need to know more about this bra in space business. Why do they strangle?

Posted by: Carrie at February 15, 2010 11:05 AM

Apparently, it has something to do with the pressure, which causes your body to expand and your bra to smother you...Or something. Ask George Lucas. Also, Yay!

Posted by: Jeremy Feist at February 15, 2010 11:12 AM

Postcards from the Edge was nominated for two Academy Awards but did not win.

Posted by: Todd at February 15, 2010 11:19 AM

I think the bra thing has to do with the fact that with zero gravity, there's nothing holding anything down, so you bra just floats up around your neck. There's also nothing holding your blood down, so it all floats up to your head and your head and neck expand to a huge balloon shape. (Hubby is a professional astronomer and knows some guys who've flown on the Space Shuttle and has seen the photos of the big heads.) Anyway, with the big swollen head and the bra around your neck, you kinda get strangled.

Besides, do you really need a bra in zero gravity. Naw.

Posted by: BWeaves at February 15, 2010 11:22 AM

I'm one of those people who wishes Carrie Fisher would just go away. She's the poor man's Liza Minelli and it doesn't matter how many things she claims happened to her, they already happened to Liza in spades.
Gay man died in your bed? Please! That's the best you can do. Liza married a gay man, had him do way more than die in her bed and then tried to kill him.
Fucked up mother? Try having Judy as a mother, bitch.
Addicted to pills and alcohol? Liza has danced the 12 steps so many times, you'll never catch up.
Bipolarity? Michael Jackson and Liz Taylor as the bridesmaids at your wedding: that's a whole bunch of crazy right there.
Oh and there's that one other thing: Liza has talent whereas Carrie? It takes more than being born to and marrying famous people to actually be good at something.

Posted by: PaddyDog at February 15, 2010 11:28 AM

BWeaves:

That's fascinating. Are you suggesting that in space we have perky breasts regardless of age? Well sign me up for that Mars trip!!!

Posted by: PaddyDog at February 15, 2010 11:36 AM

JPL conducted secret experiments a while back on the effects of space travel on jug size. It was determined that prolonged exposure to zero grav increases at least three breast sizes, on average.

True story

Posted by: BarbadoSlim at February 15, 2010 12:05 PM

What does it mean when you say she becomes a Pez dispenser? Is this literal (like they make a pez dispnser with her head??) or a euphemism (for Bulimia)? I can't figure it out....

Posted by: dene at February 15, 2010 12:14 PM

Yeah, I read this book sitting in a Borders. From cover to cover.

As for the bra thing, seriously, my boobs would strangle me without a bra. How would the bra fly up? It's too busy holding down Thelma and Louise.

It's not like that thing is all loose and flappy. It's full.

Posted by: Snuggiepants the Deathbringer at February 15, 2010 12:18 PM

Posted by: dene at February 15, 2010 12:14 PM

Hee! This took me a second too, and then I realized it meant when they made a Pez dispenser of Leia.

Posted by: Anna von Beaverpuppet at February 15, 2010 12:48 PM

That was exactly the same issue that I had with the book, she was rushing through the whole thing. I found it enjoyable but wished that she had put some more effort into it.

Posted by: Alli at February 15, 2010 1:13 PM

I read about the first ten pages before taking it back to the library. She made Electro-Shock Therapy sound like alcoholism and it just bored me to tears. Also, PaddyDog just made a really good case for Liza Minnelli. Hell Frances Farmer was more interesting.

Posted by: grace b at February 15, 2010 1:34 PM

I saw her perform this as a one-woman show, and I think it really should have stayed as such. It was hilarious in person, and there were many props, such as the princess Leia sex doll, and her facial expressions in reaction to these things are pretty priceless, as was her putting up a bulletin board to diagram her family. As a book though, I think it might not be very good.

Posted by: rhombus at February 15, 2010 2:10 PM

I told my wife it was a good book to read while stoned.

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