Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher
Written by Ashley Kelmore, Posted in Reviews
Four Stars
Best for: Humans of earth. Seriously, this woman was a national treasure.
In a nutshell: Celebrity shares memories of her youth, her mental illness, and her substance abuse.
Line that sticks with me: “But no matter what the dictionary says, in my opinion, a problem derails your life and an inconvenience is not being able to get a nice seat on the un-derailed train. Given that, I’ve had three and half problems. A dead guy in my bed, substance abuse, and manic-depression.”
Why I chose it: I’m working my way through Ms. Fisher’s catalogue this year.
Review: Ah. So good.
I think at this point most of us are familiar with how witty and honest Ms. Fisher is. In this, the first of her three non-fiction works, she tells entertaining stories that also manage to be insightful and blunt without feeling preachy. Yes, she uses sarcasm, which isn’t for everyone, but I enjoy it when it’s deployed with this level of skill.
I recently watched the HBO documentary about Ms. Fisher and her mother Debbie Reynolds, so some of these stories were familiar. But it didn’t matter, because the stories were still great. Ms. Fisher has an ability to share what are objectively challenging moments with a self-awareness I aspire to.
I will definitely be re-reading this when I need both a laugh and a reminder that
