Customer Reviews

Been There, Done That

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

I have never been interested in Eddie Fisher for any reason. All i know of him is that Elizabeth Taylor says he is the only husband she ever hated, that he was Married to connie stevens ( who i had even LESS interest in) that he was Carrie Fishers father and Debbie Reynolds husband and He sang, and he was Jewish. That was about it. This book was a breath of fresh air. It was candid, funny, witty, had enough insight to be interesting and enough regret to make this man highly likable.
So what if he exaggerated? at one time he WAS a big star, and say what you will, he obviously DID get many of these women to fall in love with him, and he probably did it with that tremendous ego and charm. How else did this Little Jewish boy from Philly end up as one of the biggest players of Hollywood for Decades? The only bitter note of the whole book is His feelings about Debbie Reynolds, and even that i believe is honest and from his perspective understandable. I do believe most of what he has written. It has the ring of truth throughout the entire book. If you find it outrageous its because most autobiographies are completely edited and even bio's are edited for salacious content. These people really did live that way and the more i read about old hollywood, the more astounded i am.
So eddie fisher bragged about himself, so what? Why would anyone read about Eddie Fisher's life and then complain that he lacked morals? Did you NOT know this going into it? Did you think you were reading Eleanor Roosevelt's Bio? Frankly he has quite the life story even if HALF of what he says was true. Wish he'd write another.

This is one of the hardest reviews I've written because I honestly wasn't sure when I finished this book if half of what I had just read was true or said merely for revenge. While the story of Eddie Fisher's career is interesting there is so much malicious gossip that it detracts from the basic story.
Starting as a talented child and then through a very up and down career Mr. Fisher never had any doubts about his abilities professionally. Through his version of his marriages to Debbie Reynolds, Elizabeth Taylor, Connie Stevens and so forth we get all the dirt that we ever wanted to hear and then some. While I like a good "Hollywood" biography as much as the next person I've never read one that gave me so many details on people that I really didn't WANT to hear. Sometimes petty, sometimes shocking and frequently doubtful there's a lot of stuff in this book that really could and should have been left unsaid. A strong proponent of freedom of speech I also believe that much of what Mr. Fisher had to say was simply unkind and people who have since died like Montgomery Clift and Roddy McDowell are no longer able to defend themselves and to deny what is printed about themselves.

Although he never had any doubts about his singing ability Mr. Fisher is also quite self-effacing about his shortcomings as a husband, father and speaks openly about his addictions. What is probably the best aspect of the book is when the reader realizes how much Eddie Fisher has learned along his journey.

I wish him peace but I wish he didn't have to be so just plain mean in this version of his life.

Yes the book is tell-all sleaze, but I literally couldn't put it down!!! He spares noone, not Debbie, not Liz, not Burton, not Connie and especially not himself. The book had me laughing outloud at times. His descriptions of "La Scandale" the Burton and Liz affair is a hoot, and I appreciated his honesty. He portrays himself as a no good father and drug addict. He does reveal perhaps too much of his sexual conquests, but it makes for an interesting read nonetheless. Eddie, you may be a bum for telling everything, but keep writing and I will keep reading.

I was never an Eddie Fisher fan but I still enjoyed reading this autobiography. A lot. In it, Fisher comes across as the most egotistical man ever to write a book; according to him he had the best voice, was the biggest star and greatest lover in history. His never-ending hubris gets to be quite comical, actually, as he never tires of singing his own praises.

He cheerfully admits to being the world's worst father ("I didn't see my kids for years at a time.") and blames all his troubles on his decades-long drug addiction. But his famous marriages and non-stop love affairs are what make this a real page-turner. He happily names names and sullies the reputations of practically every well-known (at the time) star in Hollywood while simply saying he was as irresistible to women as they were to him. Married five times, he dishes the dirt on Elizabeth Taylor and Connie Stevens and is especially unkind to Debbie Reynolds.

The book is written in a happy-go-lucky, chatty style designed to show how vulnerable he was through most of his career, while laughing off the endless bad choices he made. I was surprised at how fascinated I became with his story and how much I enjoyed this tell-all book.

I read Mr. Fishers book TWICE I loved it. While i certainly concede he is no great star at least give him credit. He is honest about he's drug addiction and his not so great role as a father. i dont understand Liz Taylor's displeasure in the book.
He writes about her in glowing terms. Of course, I could see why
Debbie Reynolds would not like it. THAT part is understandable.
But at least, Eddie took the blame for most of his mistakes unlike other books who try to shift the blame. I recently bought a CD of him at the Winter Garden. He WAS NOT BAD AT ALL>
And years ago I saw Debbie in a show in Charlotte and she was great but at the end SHE DID DO WHAT EDDIE STATED IN HIS BOOK>
(SHE put her finger down her throat when she said "Fisher") If his daughter Carrie cared anything about her father she would not have liked that disrespect (he might have been an absentie father but, he was not an abusive one -like i had)
Anyway, I liked it and thought it was so readable.

Thanks Eddie

This volume has no heroes: not Connie Stevens, not Debbie Reynolds and especially not Liz Taylor. And you won't feel sorry for Eddie who across the three marriages was a terrible father, a serious drug offender, and in pursuit of lust, threw away what could have been the ultimate singing career of the last half century. Still, I could not put this book down. Highly engrossing.

Didn't ever quite grow up, did you Eddie? He brags about his questionable sexual conquests, whines about the wrongs done to him, and wastes our time with page after page of laughable tripe. The further into this book you get, the worse the taste in your mouth. If you are curious, find it in a library and don't waste your money. It seems the only way Mr. Fisher can feel better about himself is to trash others with a despicable enthusiasm to be admired by any hack tabloid writer. Roddy McDowall was right, Eddie. You aren't much of a man at all.

Two decades after his first memoir, Eddie Fisher is at it again , exposing his considerable shortcomings in a retread of the same familiar territory - philandering husband, absent father, and a career that's been in the toilet for forty years. By his own admission - and by his own hand -- he's a three-time loser of astonishing proportions.

One would think that in the second go-round of this woeful tale he could at least have grown up enough to accept full responsibility for for the disastrous path he took, and indeed there are repeated mea culpas throughout the book. But these are universally overshadowed by the whining "they made me do it" attitude he adopts early on. Sure, Eddie admits he was a jerk - but how could poor Eddie not be, when virtually everyone else in his life was so terrible? Give me a break!

Eddie is certainly not looking to make amends with anyone with this book. The women who loved him all receive a thorough trashing, with page after page of salacious - and wholly unnecessary - details. It's impossible to believe, in spite of his admission that he regrets not being a good father, that any of his children would have any respect for him at all after reading this. He doesn't seem to regret be a terrible husband, but I'm sure his ex-wives already knew that!

The Fisher children all have my sympathy, and my first-ever fan letter will go to Debbie Reynolds. Eddie, I sure hope you made a bundle from this book, so we'll be spared yet another sequel!

In his prime Eddie Fisher tried to get to as many beautiful women as he could. If it moved, looked good in a tight skirt, Eddie Fisher would try to sex it. "Been There, Done That" could easily have benn called "My Life Between the Sheets". If he's not fornicating, he's getting meth shots from Max "Dr. Feelgood" Jacobson. On the path of pleasure he meets and marries three Hollywood lovelies: Debbie Reynolds, Elizabeth Taylor and Connie Stevens. Unfortunately, each marriage desolves into chaos.
The book is a rollercoaster of drug crazed nights and wild, animalistic sex. He bounces from woman to woman, bed to bed, falling in love with each beautiful babe. Also Eddie sings, has children and interacts with other famous celebrities. But sex and drugs are the cornerstones of his life. It's an opulent life filled with glittering jewels, fabulous mansions, awaitng limousines and occasional singing. He was the golden boy born with that sound in his throat.
I enjoyed the book immensely and I think Eddie learned from the mistakes of his youth. I'm glad he grew to appreciate his children as he aged. I was sorry to hear of his death on September 23, 2010.

I think this book should be available in digital format. As the owner of a Kindle I wanted this book so badly I succumbed and bought the hard copy. It was worth it. I was not bored in the least. I found the author to be refreshingly honest, he spared no one including himself. Keep this book in circulation.