Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher

Wishful Drinking is adapted from Carrie Fisher’s one woman show and is a humorous look at her fantastical life growing up the daughter of celebrities and then becoming one herself.  This was a great book to read right after Christmas.  I laughed a lot while I read this book, it had a lot of great one liners.

 

Fisher tackles a lot of subjects including Hollywood inbreeding, what her life was like growing up, becoming an action figure as Princess Leia, and finding out she was bi-polar.  It was an interesting look at her life and I appreciated how she tackled tough subjects.  

This is a hard book to describe as it is so unique.  I love old Hollywood and Star Wars so it was interesting to see these items from behind the scenes.  It was also fascinating to read about Carrie’s personal struggles and how she kept battling her way through life trying to get better, especially for her daughter.  

One surreal story that made me laugh was when her mother got Cary Grant to give her a call about drugs . . . and then her father did as well.  Although Carrie Fisher is the daughter of celebrities and a celebrity herself, Cary Grant was someone she was in awe of.  So, she had a couple of one hour talks with Cary Grant about her drug problems which was a very unreal experience for her.

I also liked her frank discussion about her marriage and their unraveling.  She talked about her daughter and her love for her and I really liked that.  Although Carrie Fisher had a bizarre family experience growing up, you could tell that family was very important to her. But that she also wouldn’t mince words if she thought her family members were being odd or hilarious.

Favorite Quotes:

There are so many it’s hard to pick from – but here is just one about her parents’ marriage break-up when her Dad cheated on her Mom with Elizabeth Taylor (cover your sensitive eyes – this is a ribald comment which were there a few of in this book, but it was hilarious):

“Because about a year later, Mike Todd took off in a private plane in a rainstorm, and the following morning Elizabeth was a widow.  Well naturally, my father flew to Elizabeth’s side, gradually making his way slowly to her front.  He first dried her eyes with a handkerchief, then he consoled her with flowers, and he ultimately consoled he with his penis.”

Overall, Wishful Drinking is a humorous look at the surreal life of Carrie Fisher.  It made me understand her struggles better, while also causing me to chuckle at the absurdities of celebrity life.  I highly recommend it with a word of caution that sometimes things get crass – but in a hilarious kind of way.

Book Source:  Christmas Present from my Best Friend Jenn