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lbarsk's review against another edition
4.0
A quick, vibrant read. It's as if I just had a conversation with Carrie Fisher on her couch for two hours. I love her frankness -- something I am chastised for on a weekly basis! -- and her neologisms. Her musings on death, love, and friendship are A+. What a fucking woman she was; what a fucking guiding light the world lost in December 2016.
montsett's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
3.0
sammietee's review against another edition
emotional
funny
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use and Fatphobia
melissa_who_reads's review against another edition
3.0
Not my favorite of Carrie Fisher's works. Not really cohesive -- more a succession of stories: highly entertaining stories, but they don't totally hang together as a book. I wanted her to wrap the book up in more talk about her experiences with ECT (shock therapy) -- but the last chapter was about her relationship with her dad (and, incidentally, her relationship with Elizabeth Taylor).
She did write so entertaining though -- as if she were telling the stories rather than writing them. You can hear her voice in every thing she writes: especially in her asides. She speaks of ECT, and the dark places after the death of a friend that brought her there, of her first date with Chris Dodd and the odd evening out in a group that included Sen. Kennedy (whose treatment of her is ... questionable and definitely odd), Michael Jackson, and then on to her father.
And in reality, the whole book is about the odd nature of celebrity, interwoven with stories of drugs and alcohol and food and addiction and mental illness and recovery.
Light, funny, enjoyable, with a touch of darkness that makes it worth reading.
She did write so entertaining though -- as if she were telling the stories rather than writing them. You can hear her voice in every thing she writes: especially in her asides. She speaks of ECT, and the dark places after the death of a friend that brought her there, of her first date with Chris Dodd and the odd evening out in a group that included Sen. Kennedy (whose treatment of her is ... questionable and definitely odd), Michael Jackson, and then on to her father.
And in reality, the whole book is about the odd nature of celebrity, interwoven with stories of drugs and alcohol and food and addiction and mental illness and recovery.
Light, funny, enjoyable, with a touch of darkness that makes it worth reading.
pilesoflaundry113's review against another edition
2.0
This is probably the weirdest book I have ever read.
labunnywtf's review against another edition
5.0
What you'll have of me after I journey to that great Death Star in the sky is an extremely accomplished daughter, a few books, and a picture of a stern-looking girl wearing some kind of metal bikini lounging on a giant drooling squid, behind a newscaster informing you of the passing of Princess Leia after a long battle with her head.
Dammit, Fisher.
I can't tell if this was shorter than Wishful Drinking. It felt extremely short, but I read this one as opposed to listening to the audiobook for WD. It was way too short. Need more stories. Princess Diarist coming very soon behind this.
I love the idea of these books, that because she was going through ECT and it was affecting her memories so deeply, she wanted to put everything she could potentially lose down on paper. At least, that's how each of these started, with that basic explanation.
In this, she talks about the benefits of ECT, and why though the movies make it seem like torture for unruly asylum patients, it's a last resort treatment that actually does work. Doesn't make it more horrifying to think of, though.
We get some truly fantastic stories in this book. Her date with a senator that led to her meeting Ted Kennedy, a man who was more than a little creepy. She also talks about her friendship with Michael Jackson.
Can we just pause for a second and marvel at how absolutely ridiculously insanely perfect it is that Carrie Fisher was friends with Michael Jackson? I mean...are there words? Because I have none. Her perspective on his life, and his death, for that matter, are so intelligent and make sense in a way that a non-celebrity, an outside observer, might never have seen. Plus her dentist was the father who blew the whistle and started the molestation claims, and...yeah, that's something you have to read.
There's a chapter that could almost be considered a throw away, talking about her stepfather, the man who farted (heh) her mother's hard earned money away. That one I could take or leave, but even then the information was interesting. And spread throughout are pictures from her life, her childhood, covers of magazines featuring her parents with the most amazing captions included by Carrie.
The final chapter is all about her father, and her relationship with him up to and including his death. In there is also the tale of how she and Elizabeth Taylor, the wanton strumpet who broke up her parents' marriage (but not really?), became friends. Complete with pictures. Oh, those are my favorites in the book.
The story of her relationship with her father is hard to read. Not only because it's lovely and sweet and so full of love and grief. But also because...
I guess I'm grateful she never had to write a chapter about the loss of her mother.
And that is just a really painful realization to have while reading that chapter.
Ugh, Fisher. Why you do this to me.
Dammit, Fisher.
I can't tell if this was shorter than Wishful Drinking. It felt extremely short, but I read this one as opposed to listening to the audiobook for WD. It was way too short. Need more stories. Princess Diarist coming very soon behind this.
I love the idea of these books, that because she was going through ECT and it was affecting her memories so deeply, she wanted to put everything she could potentially lose down on paper. At least, that's how each of these started, with that basic explanation.
In this, she talks about the benefits of ECT, and why though the movies make it seem like torture for unruly asylum patients, it's a last resort treatment that actually does work. Doesn't make it more horrifying to think of, though.
We get some truly fantastic stories in this book. Her date with a senator that led to her meeting Ted Kennedy, a man who was more than a little creepy. She also talks about her friendship with Michael Jackson.
Can we just pause for a second and marvel at how absolutely ridiculously insanely perfect it is that Carrie Fisher was friends with Michael Jackson? I mean...are there words? Because I have none. Her perspective on his life, and his death, for that matter, are so intelligent and make sense in a way that a non-celebrity, an outside observer, might never have seen. Plus her dentist was the father who blew the whistle and started the molestation claims, and...yeah, that's something you have to read.
There's a chapter that could almost be considered a throw away, talking about her stepfather, the man who farted (heh) her mother's hard earned money away. That one I could take or leave, but even then the information was interesting. And spread throughout are pictures from her life, her childhood, covers of magazines featuring her parents with the most amazing captions included by Carrie.
The final chapter is all about her father, and her relationship with him up to and including his death. In there is also the tale of how she and Elizabeth Taylor, the wanton strumpet who broke up her parents' marriage (but not really?), became friends. Complete with pictures. Oh, those are my favorites in the book.
The story of her relationship with her father is hard to read. Not only because it's lovely and sweet and so full of love and grief. But also because...
I guess I'm grateful she never had to write a chapter about the loss of her mother.
And that is just a really painful realization to have while reading that chapter.
Ugh, Fisher. Why you do this to me.
moireach's review against another edition
5.0
Another very interesting read by Carrie Fisher, mostly focused on her relationship with her father. Made me cry (a bit) and made me laugh (a lot).