Helpful Score: 9
Carrie Fisher, post-ECT, writes candidly, sarcastically, and somewhat randomly about her unusual upbringing and her own subsequent fame and its issues. She discusses bi-polar disorder with a wicked sense of humor. A very fast read with many laugh-out-loud moments. Very enjoyable.
Helpful Score: 8
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 was let down. 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.
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 was let down. 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.
Helpful Score: 6
This book was so sarcastic and funny in the way she describes her life and the lives of other hollywood weirdos.
Raised as a hollywood icon daughter she has a hard row to hoe, and she does it well.
From her always absent father to her kooky mother, she tales little snippits of her life that makes out crazy lives seem so sane.
This book does have some language so beware. But it is hilarious.
Raised as a hollywood icon daughter she has a hard row to hoe, and she does it well.
From her always absent father to her kooky mother, she tales little snippits of her life that makes out crazy lives seem so sane.
This book does have some language so beware. But it is hilarious.
Helpful Score: 3
LOVE IT! Great writing (but you have to like dry humor). It's laugh out loud funny. She makes herself so humorous. You have to know that Carrie Fisher has a colorful sense of humor and be ready for for the crudeness. If you've seen any inteviews with her - you can certainly hear her reading this book to you. Sit back and enjoy, I couldn't put it down.
Helpful Score: 2
I enjoyed the book....it is a very fast funny read..
Helpful Score: 1
This book was reallllllly good! It was a REALLY fast read, but I would laugh out loud at parts. I never knew that she could be that funny. I highly suggest reading this book if you want an interesting biography about a "B-List" celebrity.
Helpful Score: 1
Very typical Carrie Fisher, blunt, dry, laugh out loud funny! She seems to lay it all out there on the table - the good, the bad and the ugly truth about her life. A nice quick read into a world some would find tragic but she puts her spin on it to make her sorrow entertaining.
This is one incredibly funny and strange book all at once. Carrie tells of her life as a child of two 60s icons - the funny, sad and in between. The book kept me enthralled from the 1st page to the last. I could not control my laughter at some of the stories, and in particular, how she presents them. A MUST READ !
Reading Carrie Fisher's Wishful Drinking is like being in the audience of her one woman show: laugh out funny, but not a comprehensive memoir. After undergoing shock therapy to treat her depression and suffering the resulting memory loss, Fisher decides to tell her story both to reclaim memories and as a cathartic experience. Lucky us! Fisher has a gift in storytelling and doesn't hold much back in the way of secrets -- unlike a lot of Hollywood "tell alls" which tell little and are mainly PR pieces for the named celebrity.
Fisher's skewers various life episodes for our entertainment and hers. I laughed 'til I cried when I read Fisher's hysterical recounting of her family tree (with diagrams!) to explain to her daughter, Billie, who was interested in Elizabeth Taylor's grandson Rhys that "they are related by scandal." Fisher's mother Debbie Reynolds is portrayed as an eccentric (e.g. wanting to smoke pot with Fisher), but loving mother. While Fisher's father, Eddie Fisher, is described more by what he is not: an involved parent or even a mature adult. The remainder of this short tome addresses Fisher's bouts of depression, bipolarism, alcoholism, fame and rollercoaster relationship with Paul Simon. These are not usually funny subjects, but Fisher has a way with "gallows humor."
One note of caution: Fisher uses a fair amount of salty language and frankly describes several adult topics. Still if you are not easily offended and want a humorous, fast, read I highly recommend Wishful Drinking. Better still buy the audio version and let Fisher herself share the story that only she can tell!
Fisher's skewers various life episodes for our entertainment and hers. I laughed 'til I cried when I read Fisher's hysterical recounting of her family tree (with diagrams!) to explain to her daughter, Billie, who was interested in Elizabeth Taylor's grandson Rhys that "they are related by scandal." Fisher's mother Debbie Reynolds is portrayed as an eccentric (e.g. wanting to smoke pot with Fisher), but loving mother. While Fisher's father, Eddie Fisher, is described more by what he is not: an involved parent or even a mature adult. The remainder of this short tome addresses Fisher's bouts of depression, bipolarism, alcoholism, fame and rollercoaster relationship with Paul Simon. These are not usually funny subjects, but Fisher has a way with "gallows humor."
One note of caution: Fisher uses a fair amount of salty language and frankly describes several adult topics. Still if you are not easily offended and want a humorous, fast, read I highly recommend Wishful Drinking. Better still buy the audio version and let Fisher herself share the story that only she can tell!
Loved it. Rarely do I have the opportunity to laugh out loud when I am reading, but Carrie has a great talent to entertain, and touch lightly on very serious subjects. I look forward to reading her next book.
I'm sorry, I found this book unentertaining. I found it to be all over the place and really, rather small snippets of what I had thought the book was to be about - her struggle with her various "demons" of alcohol and bi-polar illness. It was, in my opinion, scattered attempts to make fun of herself with short sketches of stories of her life scattered through the pages all over the place, leaving me to ask what was I reading and when was she going to tell her story, her "real" story...not just a small, glazed over attempt to wrap it up in a one-liner wise-crack (sorry for my run-on sentence). And I thought the swearing was really unclassy and disappointing. Raunchy. Put it this way...I won't pass it along, I will throw it out. I'm in recovery and I suffer from mild-bi-polar...she insults me.
This is a very short book about Carrie Fisher's chaotic life as the child of two stars and dealing with addictions and mental illness. It is the written version of her stand up act.
Funny & sad at the same time. A lot of insight into some celebrities but mostly how she dealt with dysfunction & came out of it better than she started.
This is about a breezy a memoir of drugs and alcohol and toxic celebrity as you're ever likely to read. You don't end up knowing much about Carrie Fisher except that she has a wicked way with words and a somewhat tangled family-tree-by-marriage.
I prefer biographies that follow a linear time frame.
Meh. Not as funny as her magazine pieces, although, to be fair, there were a few laugh out loud moments and wry observations. On the whole, I get the sense she's hilarious in person - the perfect person to sit next to at a dinner party - but all the meds she's on that have helped toned down her manic-depression have also given her a strangely detached voice that make it difficult to feel like you're really getting a peek into her life. More like you're in the audience at one of her "Wishful Drinking" shows.
With reading the prologue, I wasn't impressed. I was getting annoyed. But other than that, once it got going, the book flowed pretty good! There was one scene where she said she was "invited" to a mental hospital and it was an honor! She couldn't just not go! She made a scary serious thing funny and honest. It was such a quick read (the font is huge), I read it in an evening. Not the best book ever, but worth an evening!
Easy, fast read. Moderately entertaining.
Fisher's wit is always refreshing to read, however this new glimpse into her mind is not much more than a tease of chaotic blurbs from her past. A mere 162 pages of unorganized thoughts feel more like a diary rant than a 'Wishful Insight'. I can't say that I feel sorry for a super icon that blames her problems on an empire of creative genius. George Lucas was not your problem girl, go back to therapy!
Insightful, delightful, amusing and yes, sobering.
Oh, Carrie Fisher. She is hysterical, which is this book's redeeming quality. I wouldn't call this so much a "memoir of her life as a bi-polar drug addict" as a bi-polar rambling. Many of the chapters are disjointed and I had to take a moment to figure out what she was talking about.
However, if you look at this for more entertainment instead of for information regarding recovery/etc, it's extremely enjoyable. So many of the outbursts and stories told are great. I was cracking up.
Is this a great piece of writing? No. But she's funny, and that makes all the difference.
However, if you look at this for more entertainment instead of for information regarding recovery/etc, it's extremely enjoyable. So many of the outbursts and stories told are great. I was cracking up.
Is this a great piece of writing? No. But she's funny, and that makes all the difference.
Great read! Very funny and engaging writer. I will now be reading the rest of her books.
Loved her sence of humor. Quick read. Interesting memoir.
A quick read of Carrie Fisher's view of her crazy celebrity life with the overlay of her bipolar disease. Several good laughs....but all and all makes you realize that although celebrities have money, the money doesn't necessarily lend to a sane and wonderfully happy life. A fun fast read.
i have to admit im not a huge fan of carrie fisher and didnt know much about her before i picked this up.
it was a quick and easy read. shes a lot more funny than i thought she was, and wow has she had a crazy life!
its pretty much an autobiography with some good stories and fun pictures. interesting to see all of the people shes known throughout her life and how incestuous (sp?) the hollywood scene can be.
this wasnt a great book id tell people to read unless they are fans of carrie fisher or just want something you can read in a few hours.
it was a quick and easy read. shes a lot more funny than i thought she was, and wow has she had a crazy life!
its pretty much an autobiography with some good stories and fun pictures. interesting to see all of the people shes known throughout her life and how incestuous (sp?) the hollywood scene can be.
this wasnt a great book id tell people to read unless they are fans of carrie fisher or just want something you can read in a few hours.
Carrie Fisher has had an up and down life. This book is almost more of a confession than true autobiography. Yet there are a few interesting tales. I was wish there was more about Star Wars, The Burbs, Whene Harry Met Sally. Still it was an interesting read.
Finally, as promised, the book review for Carrie Fisher's Wishful Drinking. Ever since Postcards from the Edge hit the bookshelves in 1987, I have been a Carrie Fisher fan. I was not a fan in the Princess Leia era, although I do have a healthy regard for the original Star Wars since it was such a breakthrough movie at the time and I never would have seen it if I hadn't gone with my cousin, famous artist, Mark Bode. And I loved her in When Harry Met Sally.
Although there are autobiographical references in Fisher's previous books, Wishful Drinking is her first foray into the memoir genre. And if you think her fiction is funny, check out her real life. Imagine being born to the uber-Hollywood-couple of the time, Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher. And then imagine that Eddie Fisher divorces your mother to marry Elizabeth Taylor. Think Jen, Brad and Angelina in the 1950s. Tabloid fodder from birth!!!
She describes her childhood with an ironic, self-deprecating perspective. She drops names, not to impress anyone, but because those names are the people she was surrounded by. She got advice from Cary Grant. She smoked pot with Harrison Ford. She listened to the explanation of why she couldn't wear a bra in space as Princess Leia from George Lucas.
She is honest about her missteps in life. Kind of like everyone's life, only with more press coverage. She has suffered from depression and even underwent ECT (aka Electroshock Therapy), just like me!
Wishful Drinking was the only thing I wanted for Christmas. So my husband, liking the price point better than the other things I might want, like landscaping, got it for me. It's a brief volume, a mere 176 pages. I wanted to both consume it all in one big gulp and savor it. So I forced myself to read it in pieces over the course of three days.
Carrie Fisher is a celebrity you can imagine hanging out with. She doesn't have a distorted view of her importance in the world based on her celebrity status. And she is laugh-out-loud funny. Get the book.
The next only thing I want (but really, honey, we need landscaping) is to see Carrie Fisher perform her one-woman show, Wishful Drinking.
Although there are autobiographical references in Fisher's previous books, Wishful Drinking is her first foray into the memoir genre. And if you think her fiction is funny, check out her real life. Imagine being born to the uber-Hollywood-couple of the time, Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher. And then imagine that Eddie Fisher divorces your mother to marry Elizabeth Taylor. Think Jen, Brad and Angelina in the 1950s. Tabloid fodder from birth!!!
She describes her childhood with an ironic, self-deprecating perspective. She drops names, not to impress anyone, but because those names are the people she was surrounded by. She got advice from Cary Grant. She smoked pot with Harrison Ford. She listened to the explanation of why she couldn't wear a bra in space as Princess Leia from George Lucas.
She is honest about her missteps in life. Kind of like everyone's life, only with more press coverage. She has suffered from depression and even underwent ECT (aka Electroshock Therapy), just like me!
Wishful Drinking was the only thing I wanted for Christmas. So my husband, liking the price point better than the other things I might want, like landscaping, got it for me. It's a brief volume, a mere 176 pages. I wanted to both consume it all in one big gulp and savor it. So I forced myself to read it in pieces over the course of three days.
Carrie Fisher is a celebrity you can imagine hanging out with. She doesn't have a distorted view of her importance in the world based on her celebrity status. And she is laugh-out-loud funny. Get the book.
The next only thing I want (but really, honey, we need landscaping) is to see Carrie Fisher perform her one-woman show, Wishful Drinking.
I found this book to be so uninteresting and unfunny that I didn't even finish it. The writing consists of a lot of half sentences. Apparently she documents her thoughts as they come to mind regardless of whether or not the thoughts make any sense.
