Thursday, February 26, 2009

Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher

Title: Wishful Drinking
Author: Carrie Fisher
Hardcover: 176 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
ISBN: 1439102252

Carrie Fisher's slim memoir is packed full of big laughs as she recounts her unusual life. Fisher begins by informing the reader she has had electroshock therapy for severe depression. She states: "I tell my story, partly to reclaim whatever I can of my former life." Her recollections, while not given in detail, are illuminating and for the most part hilarious. I say for "the most part" because they are sometimes very sobering. Whether she is describing herself as a product of "Hollywood in-breeding", discussing her famous parents (Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher), expressing what it is like to wake up with a dead man, detailing why George Lucas told her she couldn't wear a bra under her Princess Leia costume ("there's no underwear in space") , or reminiscing about her two failed marriages--she does it with style, wit, honesty, and humor. Recommended for fans of Carrie Fisher and readers with an interest in celebrity lifestyles. (FL)