Wishful Drinking

By Carrie Fisher

A memoir, adapted from the author's one-woman stage show, in which she explores what it is like to deal not only with addiction but with mental illness and with the consequences of her parents' fame and her own fame.
A daughter of privilege and of a broken home, Fisher's life came with a lot of baggage. Add to that the instant stardom brought about by that famous movie, Star Wars at the tender age of 19 and it's a life that could be a stumbling block for anyone, no matter how self-possessed and stable they may be. And Fisher apparently wasn't all that stable although she managed to star in three blockbuster movies and write several novels, while abusing alcohol and medications and suffering from undiagnosed bipolar disease.
All this the author skates over lightly, cracking jokes the whole time but never really getting too personal, never really getting into much detail. If you want to read a down-and-dirty memoir of addiction, read Cupcake Brown's. Fisher takes a lighter approach, which reads more like a comedy act, not unsurprisingly. Still it was an amusing and yet sad read that gives the reader a little glimpse of life in the limelight. I enjoyed it.