The blurb from Entertainment Weekly heralds this book as "funny as hell", but to be honest, I didn't so much as crack a smile. Wishful Drinking was originally a live show, a comedic routine starring Carrie Fisher. Adapted as a very short book, clocking in at a little over 150 pages, the audience effect is lost, leaving this as one un-funny book.
That's not to say that I didn't enjoy the book. I really did think it was an interesting glimpse behind Hollywood's closed doors. Although, I'm not sure I will ever be quite the same now that I know that Debbie Reynolds did drugs and was a bisexual. Singing in the Rain will be forever tarnished!
Carrie Fisher talks about her mother a lot in this book. She reveals her rather twisted family tree, including hookups and love-children.
The cover alludes to the fact that Carrie is an addict, and while she does touch on the topic a few times over the course of the novel, she doesn't talk a lot about it. She mostly just tells interesting stories about her time as an addict. For instance, the three times that Mr. Cary Grant called her to talk her off of LSD addiction. This happened because her mother decided to call him instead of, oh i don't know, a rehab program?
An entertaining and interesting book, but absolutely not "funny as hell".
Posted by Holly
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7 comments:
I know many people may disagree, but I think I am beyond the point of wanting to see everyone's dirty linen. Is there something really to be gained by putting all this information out there...or at least the authors view of all that info.
Celeb books don't really interest me. I seems like they are only written to further grow their stardom. Was Carrie Fisher in Star Wars?
Carrie Fisher is famous for playing Princess Leia in Star Wars.
I gravitate towards celeb books, the same way I am a faithful checker of perezhilton.com. Its shameless, but what can I say!
Caite: I am with you on that, while it can be interesting, I never feel as though I learned anything, or was inspired by a "dirty laundry" book. But by the same token, sometimes its ok to be entertained, just for the sake of entertainment.
Carrie Fisher doesn't say Debbie Reynolds was bisexual. Though if she was, that's great! Everyone is, to some degree. There is much value in airing dirty laundry. It is something we all share. Hiding problems and pretending not to have them can isolate people. I favor openness and honesty about such things.
Love the title of this book.
I totally agree - I didn't realize this book was based on her one-woman show before I picked it up. I imagine that if you saw it in person, this would be hilarious, but as a book it's just sort of amusing.
I can see that problem with converting a play into a book as a problem, by taking the audience element out, you are changing half the equation.
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