Wishful Drinking

What a brilliant telling of her life story… so sad in parts but still incredible, well worth the read

I love her.

For some reason I could see her and Charles Bukowski enjoying quite a few drinks together, having a good laugh, end up having lousy sex and then laugh it off.
Quite a life in terms of how fucked up it was, yet the book itself is not really a memoir, more of a long explanation of why she was ‘broken'.
The Force was not strong with this one.

Carrie Fisher is known to many as Princess Leia in Star Wars, but she says: “But it isn't all sweetness and light sabres.” She tells us about the ups and downs of her life in this book and there is so much about her that I did not know. Very interesting and a bit of a rollercoaster ride, she tells us in a such a humorous and witty way. It's a good read and not too long.

1. Carrie Fisher is a comical goddess
   2. Raw and real as shit
   3. I wish she wrote more
   4. I was she was still with us

Listened as an audiobook, and sometimes had to check that is wasn't on ‘shuffle'. It was interesting and I love her voice.

Very easy and quick read (for me). The writing is extremely conversational (which makes for a nice change).

It does occasionally feels a bit here and there, rather than centred, but I kept reminding myself that the book started as a one woman stand up, so it's understandable.

None the less, the book is littered with (genuinely) laugh out loud moments (took me a good few minutes to stop laughing at the hearing-aid anecdote), and beautiful insights as well as kind words for those (of us) with mental illness.

Funny and poignant in equal measure. I wish it had been longer!

Strangled by her own bra in the moonlight.

Gone but not forgotten. Rest in peace, Carrie!

Let's face it, Carrie is an honest, funny, and usually blunt woman. She curses, and tells it like it is. It was rather short, and while I laughed multiple times, it wasn't my favorite celebrity memoir. I was actually a bit disappointed. Aside from the crass language, and blunt format, the book felt more like a “shocker” novel than a classic biography. It felt like all of her stories were being told in a format to out do one another, and to make you feel some pity for Carrie.

I just didn't love it. It was a collection of anecdotes and I was wanting stories. At least it was short.

Okay, pretty sad to read after her death.

Mostly stream of consciousness and without a good timeline, which made it difficult to know if she was talking about her childhood or her adulthood.

Too short! I wanted more from this one I guess.

4 stars “So by the end of this book you could be gay AND insane!”

Just made me sad all over again that she is no longer with us. She had such a unique perspective on life, fame, relationships, etc. RIP Carrie.

I feel like all the Carrie Fisher quotes that have been shared all over the Internet ever since she died, mostly came from this book. And it is a very quotable book, perhaps the most out of all her other ones.

Wishful Drinking focuses more on her mental health, her mother, and her own relationships. Though there's a bunch of less fun things being described, the tone is much more uplifting than in the other two, and it made for a very pleasant read. It was also great to go back, from newer to older, and see what had changed in the meantime.

Enjoyable and quick read. Since it was originally an hour(?)-long show, it's paced as such; she can be a bit scattered and at times, brief in her description of particular events. I think the format of the book (or lack of) presents some insight into the way Carrie thought which makes it kind of fun.

I gave it three stars because I wanted to know MORE.
With that being said, for a quick read - I definitely reccomend.

This was short and really funny. I feel like it would have been even better as an audiobook, because it feels so conversational. Really had a good time reading it.

Quick read and hilarious - kind of wish I'd listened to it instead of read, but Fisher's voice is so strong and distinctive either way.

It is impossible for me to measure the impact Star Wars has had on my life. As a child this was by far my favorite movie(s) without question. Although I was never ‘in love' with Princess Leia, she was a key character in the story. What attracts me to get story is really an interest in her story specifically.

Wishful Drinking takes a large amount of its material from a show Fischer did in a live show that she performed on a tour. I haven't seen the show, but I've heard rumors here and there about who she had become over the years. I thought it would be interesting to hear from Fischer herself on the matter.

I have learned that it is a dangerous thing to put people in pedestals as they often fall off them. Had Fischer been on a pedestal, she would definitely have taken from it. But the sound of her authenticity and honesty gets my attention. Further, I appreciate how she has taken time to reflect on these events and consider what they could mean or teach her. She may not say it this way, but it appears to me in the undertones of the story.

A lot of the drama in her life seem to stem from her struggle with being bipolar. She uses humor as a vehicle for sharing details of her life. To me this isn't laugh out loud funny. Instead I find myself pitying what she has gone through, whether by choice or circumstance. A lot of her humor comes from the perspective of living a lifestyle that is foreign to mine. While I understand it, and I see why it is amusing, it doesn't tickle my funny bone.

Listening to the book being read by Fischer herself was a good way to take his book in. She adds the emphases as is natural to who she is, bringing the narrative to life.

In the end, this book sheds life on the person who was the embodiment of Princes Leia, but her own self in real life. I admire that she has come to see the tragedies brought on by bipolar that was not medicated. This shows a rare strength, made greater still in that she is willing to share it publicly with others. While she never says it explicitly, I wonder if she does so to tell others they are not alone in their experience.

Ultimately, the rating of this book comes down to taste in humor and relating to her lifestyle. I do admire that she has come to understand her illness and manage it well in her later years, but I still feel a sadness in her story. Like these are all things that have happened but there is no meaning in any of it. Perhaps some to help others who also suffer with bipolar, but ultimately it feels like she was fighting a battle that could not be won. Perhaps this is the colored by my Christian perspective, as I see relationship with God as our only hope. This book is definitely worth reading to understand her better as a fellow member of the human race struggling to find a way in a world that has a lot of hurts and anger.

As a big fan of Carrie Fisher since the original Star Wars movie, I knew a lot of the stuff in this book. But she still had some poignant and “fun” things to say about addiction and mental illness.

I really enjoyed this. I liked that Carrie read her own book. I liked her honesty about her weird life and her honesty about the weirdness of writing so honestly about it. (Sorry if you have to re-read that sentence.) Also, I will be honest and say I loved all the Star Wars gossip.

Fast hilarious read. Liked her and this made me love her more.