Wishful Drinking [Hardcover]

Carrie Fisher (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 2, 2008

Finally, after four hit novels, Carrie Fisher comes clean (well, sort of ) with the crazy truth that is her life in her first-ever memoir. In Wishful Drinking, adapted from her one-woman stage show, Fisher reveals what it was really like to grow up a product of "Hollywood in-breeding," come of age on the set of a little movie called Star Wars, and become a cultural icon and bestselling action figure at the age of nineteen.

Intimate, hilarious, and sobering, Wishful Drinking is Fisher, looking at her life as she best remembers it (what do you expect after electroshock therapy?). It's an incredible tale: the child of Hollywood royalty -- Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher -- homewrecked by Elizabeth Taylor, marrying (then divorcing, then dating) Paul Simon, having her likeness merchandized on everything from Princess Leia shampoo to PEZ dispensers, learning the father of her daughter forgot to tell her he was gay, and ultimately waking up one morning and finding a friend dead beside her in bed.

Wishful Drinking, the show, has been a runaway success. Entertainment Weekly declared it "drolly hysterical" and the Los Angeles Times called it a "Beverly Hills yard sale of juicy anecdotes." This is Carrie Fisher at her best -- revealing her worst. She tells her true and outrageous story of her bizarre reality with her inimitable wit, unabashed self-deprecation, and buoyant, infectious humor.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Fisher has fictionalized her life in several novels (notably Postcards from the Edge), but her first memoir (she calls it a really, really detailed personals ad) proves that truth is stranger than fiction. There are more juicy confessions and outrageously funny observations packed in these honest pages than most celebrity bios twice the length. After describing how she underwent electroshock therapy for her manic depression, Fisher then sorts through her life as her memories return. She predicts that by the end of the book, you'll feel so close to me that you'll want to divorce me. At one point, this daughter of Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher (one an icon, the other an arm piece to icons) hilariously diagrams her family tree of Hollywood marriages and remarriages to make sure her daughter's potential date is not a relative. Revealing that at 15 she got a vibrator for Christmas from her mother, she writes, You might be thinking that a lot of the stories I'm telling you are over the top... but you can't imagine what I'm leaving out. With acerbic precision and brash humor, she writes of struggling with and enjoying aspects of her alcoholism, drug addiction and mental breakdowns. Her razor-sharp observations about celebrity, addiction and sexuality demand to be read aloud to friends. (Dec.)
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Review

"[Fisher] has a talent for lacerating insight that masquerades as carefree self-deprecation...The effect, ultimately, is extraordinarily painful while being extremely entertaining...[S]he's done her best to make sense of it all, and throughout, her humor has held up. In her own defiant manner, she's fought the good fight." -- The Los Angeles Times

"She's still funny as hell...Her stories bubble, bounce, and careen with an energy...Get someone to read this rollicking book aloud to you." -- Entertainment Weekly

"Fisher makes each crushing tragedy hilarious." -- People (4 out of 4 stars)

"[T]here are also sparkling bons mots bespeaking [Carrie's] quirky intelligence and sweetness. Spoken like a true princess." -- Elle

"Clearly, you should buy this book....she has expert comic timing and, perhaps more importantly, better stories than most drug addicts....Fisher is unafraid to write, brutally and vividly." -- New York Post

"Fisher, unlike most celebrities (especially ones spawned from other celebrities) can actually write, and...Wishful Drinking, though an extremely short book, is super salacious and entertaining." -- Jezebel.com

"Fisher is a language obsessive, a nimble verbal acrobat who puns and somersaults around a page with glee...If you are a fan of Fisher's fiction, a follower of her mental illness or simply a looky-loo stargazer curious about her Hollywood heritage, Wishful Drinking will likely make you laugh." -- Slate.com

"There are more juicy confessions and outrageously funny observations packed in these honest pages than most celebrity bios twice the length...With acerbic precisions and brash humor, she writes of struggling with and enjoying aspects of her alcoholism, drug addiction and mental breakdowns. Her razor-sharp observations about celebrity, addiction and sexuality demand to be read aloud to friends." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 163 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; 1 edition (December 2, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439102252
• ISBN-13: 978-1439102251
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (216 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #268,422 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Carrie Fisher, the daughter of Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher, became an icon when she starred as Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy. Her star-studded career includes roles in numerous films such as The Blues Brothers and When Harry Met Sally. She is the author of five bestselling novels, Wishful Drinking, Surrender the Pink, Delusions of Grandma, The Best Awful, and Postcards from the Edge, which was made into a hit film starring Shirley MacLaine and Meryl Streep. Fisher's experience with addiction and mental illness--and her willingness to speak honestly about them--have made her a sought-after speaker and respected advocate.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Wishful Drinking - the Stand Up Routine, December 28, 2008

By 

A Customer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wishful Drinking (Kindle Edition)

Being a big fan or Carrie's books and admiring how she could survive such a Hollywood upbringing, I really looked forward to this new book. While there are moments of hilarity, it really reads better if you imagine her standing up in front of an audience doing this as a cross between a stand up routine and a semi biography. As a book it just is not on the same caliber as her previous efforts. But i was able to get through it by picturing her reading this live and laughing along with the audience. It is witty and funny in places but more properly belongs as it started - a stand up show or audio book. I applaud her survival and honesty about her addictions and bipolar disorder, but this is better as an interview than a book.

46 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilariously awesome, December 9, 2008

By 

Lauren Las (Joliet, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wishful Drinking (Hardcover)

Even though I'm sure her one-woman show is funnier, Carrie Fisher's wit and humor definitely come across in this book. There's no plot, and little chronology, but it comes across the same as it would on stage. Just an iconic and kinda crazy woman, rambling on about her strange and interesting life. Any fans of Fisher or Star Wars would love it, and I think people who don't fit one of those categories would at least be amused by it. It's a quick read, with large print and pictures!

39 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Left me waiting for the story, May 12, 2009

By 

Shine_3013 (MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wishful Drinking (Hardcover)

I don't generally write reviews, but this book just made me want to write one.

I've liked Carrie Fisher's other books and generally really like "memoirs" about drug addiction, drinking, mental health issues and things like that. So it seemed like Carrie Fisher's "memoir" titled Wishful Drinking would be very good. I was excited about reading it.

But, I did not like this book at all. It didn't go into any detail about anything in her life. Just a sentence or two about some "issue" and that's all. I was always waiting for "the story" then I finally just got to the end and really didn't feel like she actually told anything. It was just sort of rambling about herself while trying too hard to be funny yet leaving out an actual story. Along with that, although some authors can do the rambling, then getting distracted and changing to some other topic, she really couldn't pull it off.

I would not recommend this book at all which upsets me because I was really expecting something much better.