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March 2017

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Shockaholic by Carrie Fisher

Written by , Posted in Reviews

Four Stars

Best for: Fans of quality anecdotes and fairly snappy writing.

In a nutshell: More stories about Carrie Fisher’s life.

Line that sticks with me: “I’ve always wished that I was someone who really didn’t care what I looked like, but I do. And yet, even though I end up caring about it almost more than absolutely anything, it takes way more than a lot to get me to do anything about it.” (p 28)

Why I chose it: I bought all of Carrie Fisher’s books after she passed, because that was when I learned she was also a very prolific writer (whoops).

Review: Fun!

Oh, you want more? Okay. Well, there are anecdotes in here. Interesting stories. Any of them could have been part of Wishful Drinking; I think maybe only a couple of them actually take place in the time between the publishing of that and the publishing of this. Perhaps these were cut from that, or she just realized that with her rich life experiences, she had plenty of material. The framing is that some of the memories may be a bit messy, what with her undergoing electro convulsive therapy to address her mental illness, although the stories themselves come across as clear as can be.

In this books, she talks about going toe to toe with Ted Kennedy (yes, the Senator) while on a date with a different Senator (I think she won), time she spent with Michael Jackson (including her opinions on the charges he’d eventually face), and how she and her former step-mother Elizabeth Taylor buried the hatchet. For me, the most interesting chapter is the final one, which details her time with her father near the end of his life.

While the review pull line they go with is “A Nonstop Laugh Riot,” I don’t think that’s accurate. I definitely laughed – and even guffawed – but more I just enjoyed some good storytelling and clever turns of phrase.

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