2013 Book Review #112: Wishful Drinking

[jethrien]

Title: Wishful Drinking
Author: Carrie Fisher
Genre: Memoir
Thingummies: 2.5

Synopsis: Carrie Fisher tries to crack wise about her painfully screwed up life.

Thoughts: I saw the one-woman show this was based on a few years ago, and wanted to see how the book stacked up. The answer is poorly--it worked a lot better as a show.

Part of this is because what works in speech--a certain brittle levity, off-color references, sudden interjections of profanity--comes off as stilted and trying to hard on the page. Part is because the structure that you didn't notice as a two hour monologue--disjointed, rambling, and mostly without focus--doesn't hold together in the more measured environment of a book and its reader.

A lot of the jokes that were genuinely funny in person fall flat here. Which is a pity--the material was great live.

There's also not really much here that wasn't in the show. How did they manage to make an entire book out of a single monologue? Slim book, lots of pictures, really big type. And a fair amount of whitespace. (Don't buy this book. You're not getting your money's worth.)

If you're looking for real dirt on Star Wars, you won't find it here. Likewise, if you've seen the show, don't bother. If you want to take a brief but somewhat amusing stare at the car wreck that is Fisher's life, though, it'll breeze you on through.

Comments

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

If you want the real deal on Star Wars, read Tony Daniels old columns in Star Wars Insider. They were why I kept my subscription.

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

This was less looking for Star Wars gossip, and more curiosity about her personally. The show was great. Book, not so much.

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

I read Postcards from the Edge by her. I found it largely incoherent. She'd get so far inside a metaphor that you couldn't tell what she was talking about anymore.