Status
Available
Publication
Blue Rider Press (2016), 267 pages
Description
The Hollywood icon best known for her role in "Star Wars" shares interconnected essays exploring her life as the child of Hollywood royalty, adventures on the sets of "Star Wars," and struggles with bipolar disorder.
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User reviews
LibraryThing member Crazymamie
I am not usually one to read celebrity memoirs. Mostly because I don't want to find out something I don't know and which then ruins my love of a favorite movie or book or celebrity. I don't need to know the inside story that badly. And Star Wars! I was ten when I saw the first movie in the theater,
The diary entries were not at all what I was expecting. I was thinking dated entries with brief summaries about the filming or anecdotes about the process of making the movies. Instead what we get are lovely candid insights into a nineteen year old who is making her first big movie. There is poetry and humor and self doubt. There is a laying bare of the heart. And it is a perfect fit to have the daughter read the entries of her mother's younger self. I like that Fisher bookended the diary entries in between her own narrative of looking back to those days and of playing such an iconic and beloved character that would follow her the rest of her life, which sadly was not long enough. Fisher is snarky and irreverent and laugh out loud funny, but she is also gracious. Highly recommended, and a side note for audiobook listeners who, like me, like to increase the speed - you can listen to Fisher at 1.25x speed perfectly, but go back to the 1x speed for Lourd and the diary entries.
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and I have loved it every since then, and it is a love I share with my own children. It's precious to me - I don't want it damaged or tarnished. So, I had already decided that I would not be reading this book - not because I didn't trust Carrie Fisher, but because I wanted to protect the memories I already have with these movies. Sounds silly, right? That's fine, I am completely comfortable marching to the beat of my own drummer. But then Carrie Fisher died, and that was staggering because she was one of the youngest cast members of the original movies. And they were just making more of these movies, telling more of the story...how sad. Anyway, after a few of my trusted friends here had read and reviewed the book, I decided to give it a chance, and I am so glad that I did. Fisher narrates the book herself, and she is fabulous - her personality, sense of humor and snarky comments all come through so brilliantly. And she is so great with impersonations! Her daughter, Billy Lourd, narrates the actual diary entries, which are in the middle of the book and comprise maybe one third of the total book. The diary entries were not at all what I was expecting. I was thinking dated entries with brief summaries about the filming or anecdotes about the process of making the movies. Instead what we get are lovely candid insights into a nineteen year old who is making her first big movie. There is poetry and humor and self doubt. There is a laying bare of the heart. And it is a perfect fit to have the daughter read the entries of her mother's younger self. I like that Fisher bookended the diary entries in between her own narrative of looking back to those days and of playing such an iconic and beloved character that would follow her the rest of her life, which sadly was not long enough. Fisher is snarky and irreverent and laugh out loud funny, but she is also gracious. Highly recommended, and a side note for audiobook listeners who, like me, like to increase the speed - you can listen to Fisher at 1.25x speed perfectly, but go back to the 1x speed for Lourd and the diary entries.
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LibraryThing member justacatandabook
Carrie Fisher's latest memoir details a behind the scenes look of the first Star Wars film. Motivated by the recent discovery of the journals she wrote while filming Star Wars in the late 1970s, Fisher discusses her naive nineteen-year-old self: not yet famous (though with famous parents) and
I am new to the Star Wars fandom, having only recently discovered the films myself in the past two years or so. My four-year-old daughters love them (and Leia), so I was intrigued by the idea of Fisher's memoir. While I like the films, I don't consider myself a fanatic by any stretch of the imagination. Still, I was interested in hearing some behind the scenes tidbits about filming. And Fisher starts out with such facts, explaining how an early scene was re-written due to the physical limitations of Peter Mayhew, who played Chewbacca. It's that sort of information that I find fascinating--and imagine other Star Wars fans would as well.
And, I won't lie, I was also fascinated by Fisher's reported relationship with Harrison Ford, who is about 15 years her senior (and was married while they were filming). Her portrayal of Harrison in the book seems spot on and is actually quite humorous at times. Unfortunately, her actual detail of the relationship is scant at best, and we really don't get much insight into their romance. What we do get is a lot of particulars about Fisher's own insecurities about herself, her body, her acting, etc.
She includes actual excerpts of the journals she found in the middle of the book, and I confess, I eventually started skimming them, because they were just agony to read. I can understand how they resonate from the perspective of a lovestruck teenager (because, truly, she was just that at the time), but so many years later, they just seem like a lot of bad poetry and ramblings that make no sense out of context. And beyond a few stories about Harrison, we really get nothing in the book that explains them, which is unfortunate, as Fisher seems witty and interesting (albeit insecure, but hey, so am I). I understand her angst from the journals, I really do, but I'm not honestly sure I wanted to read it in such form.
Plus, after that section of the book, we move on to Fisher discussing her fans and how "being Leia" has affected her life. And, again, I get it: we all forget how no one expected Star Wars to be so big. You wouldn't at nineteen realize what you were getting into, and I'm sure this character has absorbed much of her identity. And maybe it was reading this on the heel of Anna Kendrick's memoir, but I can only take so much of celebrities complaining about their fame and lives. The second half of Fisher's book, basically, is her capturing "conversations" with awestruck fans explaining how much Leia and Star Wars meant to them. But, really, it's mocking them and illustrating how tiresome the "lap dance" (her words) of signing autographs and appearing at various conventions can be. But, you know, as she states, it's worth it for the money. You can't help but feel a little offended on the part of these devoted, crazy fans, and a little less sorry for Fisher, even if she was not included on merchandising shares for Star Wars.
Sigh. Overall, I'm a bit conflicted on this one. Bits and pieces were very interesting. But I would have enjoyed hearing more about the actual set and her interactions with the other actors beyond Harrison Ford. While I also didn't mind hearing about Fisher's impressions of how Leia impacted her life, the fandom sections just rubbed me the wrong way. 2.5 stars.
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unprepared for the juggernaut that would become the Star Wars franchise. She also covers her now famous co-star, Harrison Ford, and their relationship during the three months of filming. Fisher presents excerpts from her discovered journals and ponders on her life and the fame and notoriety that playing Princess Leia has brought her. I am new to the Star Wars fandom, having only recently discovered the films myself in the past two years or so. My four-year-old daughters love them (and Leia), so I was intrigued by the idea of Fisher's memoir. While I like the films, I don't consider myself a fanatic by any stretch of the imagination. Still, I was interested in hearing some behind the scenes tidbits about filming. And Fisher starts out with such facts, explaining how an early scene was re-written due to the physical limitations of Peter Mayhew, who played Chewbacca. It's that sort of information that I find fascinating--and imagine other Star Wars fans would as well.
And, I won't lie, I was also fascinated by Fisher's reported relationship with Harrison Ford, who is about 15 years her senior (and was married while they were filming). Her portrayal of Harrison in the book seems spot on and is actually quite humorous at times. Unfortunately, her actual detail of the relationship is scant at best, and we really don't get much insight into their romance. What we do get is a lot of particulars about Fisher's own insecurities about herself, her body, her acting, etc.
She includes actual excerpts of the journals she found in the middle of the book, and I confess, I eventually started skimming them, because they were just agony to read. I can understand how they resonate from the perspective of a lovestruck teenager (because, truly, she was just that at the time), but so many years later, they just seem like a lot of bad poetry and ramblings that make no sense out of context. And beyond a few stories about Harrison, we really get nothing in the book that explains them, which is unfortunate, as Fisher seems witty and interesting (albeit insecure, but hey, so am I). I understand her angst from the journals, I really do, but I'm not honestly sure I wanted to read it in such form.
Plus, after that section of the book, we move on to Fisher discussing her fans and how "being Leia" has affected her life. And, again, I get it: we all forget how no one expected Star Wars to be so big. You wouldn't at nineteen realize what you were getting into, and I'm sure this character has absorbed much of her identity. And maybe it was reading this on the heel of Anna Kendrick's memoir, but I can only take so much of celebrities complaining about their fame and lives. The second half of Fisher's book, basically, is her capturing "conversations" with awestruck fans explaining how much Leia and Star Wars meant to them. But, really, it's mocking them and illustrating how tiresome the "lap dance" (her words) of signing autographs and appearing at various conventions can be. But, you know, as she states, it's worth it for the money. You can't help but feel a little offended on the part of these devoted, crazy fans, and a little less sorry for Fisher, even if she was not included on merchandising shares for Star Wars.
Sigh. Overall, I'm a bit conflicted on this one. Bits and pieces were very interesting. But I would have enjoyed hearing more about the actual set and her interactions with the other actors beyond Harrison Ford. While I also didn't mind hearing about Fisher's impressions of how Leia impacted her life, the fandom sections just rubbed me the wrong way. 2.5 stars.
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LibraryThing member arielfl
Carrie Fisher dishes on two of my favorite topics, Star Wars and Harrison Ford, so how the hell did she make both so boring? The first part of the book is a little about she fell into show business and landed the part of a lifetime. Then we move on to the affair with Harrison which is a snooze
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fest. Harrison wouldn't talk to her, looked down on her, made her feel insecure, ignored her during the work week, and then every weekend they did some mattress dancing. After three months Harrison went back to his wife and kids and that's all we have folks, nothing to see, move along. The next part of the book is Carrie's nonsensical diary musings. Even the parts that I was sure were about Harrison Ford were painful to read. The last part of the book is about how she wrestles with fame and she offers a giant put down of her fans who pay to spend time with her at comic cons. The last part was extremely off putting because my daughter loves to see her idols at comic cons. Thankfully the people she has meet so far have been extremely gracious. Carrie Fisher wants her fans money but she doesn't want to be intruded on by them. I just ended up liking her a lot less after reading this book. Show Less
LibraryThing member Jthierer
I was struck by how much this book focuses on her affair with Harrison Ford versus the broader experience of filming Star Wars as a whole. I knew the topic would come up, obviously, but I wasn’t necessarily prepared for how central that topic would be to the book. I also wasn’t prepared for how
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poorly Harrison would come across in Fisher’s telling. Honestly, I’m aware that he’s probably not the nicest person in real life, but her portrayal of him reads so much like a person who wants to believe that their friend is a nice person when in fact…he’s kind of an asshole. If she had interspersed the diary entries of 1976 Carrie with current day Carrie’s reflections it could have been a much stronger work with a better sense of what she’s learned and how the experience changed her. Instead, the diary entries are presented as one chunk midway through the book and frankly, an angsty teenager isn’t the most interesting of narrators. Those two flaws combined to make this work shallower than I expected given some of her other work. Show Less
LibraryThing member mcelhra
The Princess Diarist focuses on Carrie Fisher’s time filming Star Wars: A New Hope. Specifically, it narrows in on her affair with Harrison Ford during filming. There is a little bit at the beginning about how she got her start in the entertainment business, including her role on Star Wars, but
Carrie was only nineteen when she was cast as Princess Leia and very inexperienced in both sex and relationships. Harrison was in his mid-thirties with a wife and children. Their relationship only lasted three months. Carrie was in love with him but it seemed like she more of just a way to deal with the loneliness of shooting on location away from his family for him. Honestly, I thought he was kind of a jerk, although Carrie didn’t seem to, neither then or in retrospect.
I listened to the audio version of The Princess Diarist. Carrie’s daughter Billie narrates the excerpts of her diary. I think this was a smart choice because Carrie’s voice is gravely now, like someone who’s smoked a lot and had a hard-living lifestyle, as she did when she was younger and involved with drugs and whatnot. She did not sound like Princess Leia anymore! Billie’s voice sounds like the young person she is and was better able to portray the native of Carrie’s perspective at the time. The diary itself is stream of conscience punctuated with short, angsty love poems written about Harrison.
Carrie narrates the other parts of her book, which is told in a narrative format. This was also a good choice because Carrie’s parts of the book are pretty funny and no one is better to deliver her witty lines than her. She definitely looks back on her relationship with Harrison as a fond memory and doesn’t bare him any ill will. I couldn’t help wondering what both Harrison and Mary Marquardt – the woman he was married to at the time of Harrison and Carrie’s affair- think about the book. I couldn’t find an official response from either one of them.
This is not the book for you if you want to know more about Carrie’s life overall. It has a very narrow focus. She has another memoir called Wishful Drinking. I haven’t read it but from the synopsis on Amazon, it sounds like it covers her entire life.
I greatly enjoyed this book, although it was a little bittersweet listening to it after she passed away. She brought joy to so many people and was definitely one of a kind.
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it shifts quickly to focus on her and Harrison’s relationship.Carrie was only nineteen when she was cast as Princess Leia and very inexperienced in both sex and relationships. Harrison was in his mid-thirties with a wife and children. Their relationship only lasted three months. Carrie was in love with him but it seemed like she more of just a way to deal with the loneliness of shooting on location away from his family for him. Honestly, I thought he was kind of a jerk, although Carrie didn’t seem to, neither then or in retrospect.
I listened to the audio version of The Princess Diarist. Carrie’s daughter Billie narrates the excerpts of her diary. I think this was a smart choice because Carrie’s voice is gravely now, like someone who’s smoked a lot and had a hard-living lifestyle, as she did when she was younger and involved with drugs and whatnot. She did not sound like Princess Leia anymore! Billie’s voice sounds like the young person she is and was better able to portray the native of Carrie’s perspective at the time. The diary itself is stream of conscience punctuated with short, angsty love poems written about Harrison.
Carrie narrates the other parts of her book, which is told in a narrative format. This was also a good choice because Carrie’s parts of the book are pretty funny and no one is better to deliver her witty lines than her. She definitely looks back on her relationship with Harrison as a fond memory and doesn’t bare him any ill will. I couldn’t help wondering what both Harrison and Mary Marquardt – the woman he was married to at the time of Harrison and Carrie’s affair- think about the book. I couldn’t find an official response from either one of them.
This is not the book for you if you want to know more about Carrie’s life overall. It has a very narrow focus. She has another memoir called Wishful Drinking. I haven’t read it but from the synopsis on Amazon, it sounds like it covers her entire life.
I greatly enjoyed this book, although it was a little bittersweet listening to it after she passed away. She brought joy to so many people and was definitely one of a kind.
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LibraryThing member Carmenere
"Sullen and scornful; a real Marlboro man
The type who pours out the beer and eats
the can
A tall guy with a cultivated leer
One you can count on to disapprove or
disappear..............."
Taken from Ms. Fisher's diary and written during the filming of Star Wars in 1976 it looks like she had, co-star,
This short memoir begins with some background for those unfamiliar with her family tree and quickly jumps to her first film, Shampoo with Warren Beatty. Shortly after, she is tested for and ultimately given the part of Princess Leia. The rest is motion picture history, well not quite, up to the writing of this memoir those who cared only surmised that she and Ford had an affair. Now, before, as she thought, it is revealed by people who weren't actually there, she confirms it rather succinctly and, as many post pubescent girls do, kept a diary of her first real romance. Much of the diary is shared with the reader. It is both touching and sad. Could it actually be so long ago? Could Carrie Fisher actually have died shortly after the release of this book?
Not one to pay much attention to Ms Fisher's earlier books, this one caught my eye. I was pleased with it and occasionally laughed aloud. In true Hollywood style, she leaves us laughing.
The type who pours out the beer and eats
the can
A tall guy with a cultivated leer
One you can count on to disapprove or
disappear..............."
Taken from Ms. Fisher's diary and written during the filming of Star Wars in 1976 it looks like she had, co-star,
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Harrison Ford figured out pretty well. Having an affair with this actor for the duration of production gave her the time to do so. This short memoir begins with some background for those unfamiliar with her family tree and quickly jumps to her first film, Shampoo with Warren Beatty. Shortly after, she is tested for and ultimately given the part of Princess Leia. The rest is motion picture history, well not quite, up to the writing of this memoir those who cared only surmised that she and Ford had an affair. Now, before, as she thought, it is revealed by people who weren't actually there, she confirms it rather succinctly and, as many post pubescent girls do, kept a diary of her first real romance. Much of the diary is shared with the reader. It is both touching and sad. Could it actually be so long ago? Could Carrie Fisher actually have died shortly after the release of this book?
Not one to pay much attention to Ms Fisher's earlier books, this one caught my eye. I was pleased with it and occasionally laughed aloud. In true Hollywood style, she leaves us laughing.
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LibraryThing member 2wonderY
Carrie Fisher is a fun personality. Her writing is impressionistic, moving to stream of consciousness. There is little reminiscence of the original Star Wars movie making here. It centers on Carrie's lack of experience and the barely verbal relationship she and Harrison Ford had off camera during
Carrie Fisher reads the current material and Billie Lourd reads the journal entries. Lourd reads a bit too fast.
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filming. The notebooks are not diaries, but poetry and ruminations. They took me back to my own juvenile crushes. I hadn't thought of those particulars in may years, but it was good to bring them up again and enjoy the universality of those emotions.Carrie Fisher reads the current material and Billie Lourd reads the journal entries. Lourd reads a bit too fast.
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LibraryThing member melydia
Around the time The Force Awakens began filming, Carrie Fisher wrote this book, reflecting on her four decades as Princess Leia. She'd found a few diaries she kept during production of the original Star Wars, and decided to spill the beans: she and Harrison Ford had had an affair. Interestingly,
A note on the audio: Fisher is fantastic. Oddly, there were parts where she sounded strikingly like David Sedaris. (This is not a bad thing. Just surprising.)
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there isn't a whole lot to tell, and the other parts of the book are in fact far more interesting and entertaining. But I enjoyed it all, as usual. The only part that kind of dragged were the diaries themselves. Written by a 19-year-old, there's a lot of angst and introspection. The poetry isn't bad, but I'm not really a poetry person. Mostly it's kind of boring. The one thing I got out of it was an inkling of what a great writer she would become. Her wordplay is simply delightful. I admit I was a little sad listening to this, knowing there will never be any more. I guess my next step is to try out her fiction.A note on the audio: Fisher is fantastic. Oddly, there were parts where she sounded strikingly like David Sedaris. (This is not a bad thing. Just surprising.)
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LibraryThing member kerribrary
Listening to this audiobook -- wonderfully narrated by Carrie Fisher herself -- was a very surreal experience for me. I started listening to it just a few days before the news came out that she'd had a heart attack during a plane flight. I finished listening to it a week after her death.
This was
Despite my sadness at Carrie Fisher's death, I'm glad I got to listen to this book at the moment in time that I did.
This was
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the first of Carrie Fisher's books I'd ever read, and I found it to be a very bittersweet experience. I wish I had appreciated her more when she was alive, because I don't think I'd ever realized that she was this funny in her recollections and her openness about herself and her life. It is at times heartbreaking to listen to in context now -- like the moment when she muses that autographed pictures of her will be worth a lot more after her death -- but it's also reassuring that, even though she's gone, I was still able to listen to her stories and opinions for the first time. I adored the way she writes, too, which is especially good in audiobook form because sometimes it really feels like you're having a conversation with her.Despite my sadness at Carrie Fisher's death, I'm glad I got to listen to this book at the moment in time that I did.
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LibraryThing member librisissimo
Okay, I confess I like Carrie Fisher and always have. I like her "Postcards from the Edge" years ago. The jacket blurb will tell you about this book, but it is the same witty, sassy, irreverent, vulnerable writer writing about herself - then and now - and you need to read it, if only to understand
What I liked most was her poetry, remarkably good for her age (19). Paul Simon missed a bet not putting it to music while they were married.
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why all that chemistry between Han and Leia was the Real Thing.What I liked most was her poetry, remarkably good for her age (19). Paul Simon missed a bet not putting it to music while they were married.
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LibraryThing member nancyadair
In 1977 when Star Wars IV: A New Hope came out my husband and I were in our mid-twenties. We loved the movie but not as much as the youth we were working with. The teens bragged about how many times they had seen the movie. The movie was more than a hit, it transformed culture.
Fast forward ten or
The movie is a touchstone for so many who remember when they first saw it as vividly as recalling where we were on 9-11 or the day President Kennedy was shot.
Princess Leia was a different kind of heroine, the kind I had found lacking when I was growing up in the 1950s. In my make-believe play I was always a cowboy because the cowgirls were weak and needed to be rescued. I resented it when Leia was turned into a sex object, barely dressed in that uncomfortable metal bikini.
Later, we were into Joseph Campbell and loved how the story of Luke Skywalker was a secular manifestation of the eternal hero myth.
We were fans of all the Harrison Ford movies-- from Indiana Jones to Witness. But I never idolized Mark Harmon or Harrison Ford or Carrie Fisher like many did, or do. Over the years I read about Carrie's books and saw her in a few movies and heard about her personal battles. I'm not really a Hollywood bio book fan, so I did not pay much attention to The Princess Diarist until I read such glowing reviews.
I had requested The Princess Diarist through NetGalley before Carrie's death, based on the reviews I had read. Just last week I was notified that I was granted access to the book.
I always give a new book a glance. Sometimes, I keep reading, hooked. This was one of those times. I read the book in a few sittings.
"...if I didn't write about it someone else would." from The Princess Diarist
Earlier this year on my blog I shared memories of my teen years, drawing from the diaries I kept beginning at age 13. Carrie started writing at age 12, about the time I did. I found myself relating to the Carrie. At age nineteen, she was self-deprecating, uncertain, wanting to appear wordily yet wanting to be loved. How secure could a teenager be when the first thing she is told is to lose ten pounds before filming!
The memoir begins with Carrie retelling her back story, getting the role, and how her affair with Harrison Ford began. Her writing is direct with a touch of humor, and an objectivity made possible by the passing of time. Carrie admits she went into filming hoping to have an affair; there was one boyfriend in her past. Harrison was fifteen years older, and married, and not on her radar although he struck her as the iconic Hollywood star. He made her nervous and left her feeling awkward.
The next section is from the diary she kept during the filming of Star Wars: IV. The diary excerpts offer insight into her nineteen-year-old mind. It is quite heartbreaking and poignant, consisting of poems and thoughts reflecting hard lessons about love. She chose to be with Harrison, but chastised herself for choosing obsession and over emotional investment. There was no future with Harrison, their relationship without real meaning.
Teenage Carrie had great self-awareness about her choices but lacked an ability for self-determination. She has little confidence and feels worthless. She is playing at being someone she is not, and is unable to demand what she needs from the relationship. Harrison has strong boundaries, revealing little; the strong, silent type. Writing keeps Carrie together. When filming on location came to an end, Harrison returned to his family.
Forty years on, Carrie can reflect on her "very long one-night stand" and their one-sided love affair objectively. It's all in the past, she remarks, "and who gives a shit?"
The memoir next shifts to how the Princess Leia role took over Carrie's life and how she coped with the fame and demands it brought: being accessible to fans and signing autographs, listening to the stories of worship, making money off the fans, the endless Comic-Con conventions. Carrie grows old, but Princess Leia does not, and a young fan complained, "I want the other Leia, not the old one." But fans also shared stories that warmed her heart and made her feel good.
I loved the story of people asking her, "Well, you wanted to be in show business," so accept the negative side of fame. That lack of empathy riled me. I was asked a similar question once. I complained about the frequent moves and lack of self-determination that came with my husband being in the pastoral ministry. "You married a minister. You knew what you were getting into," the lady told me. "I was nineteen and had no idea about itineracy," I retorted.
We make decisions at age nineteen feeling very grown up and worldly, and then realize how little we understand about the world, or about ourselves. Carrie didn't set out to become a famous Hollywood actress. And she was not prepared.
Last of all, Carrie ruminates, sobbing, on her iconic role. What would she be if not Princess Leia? "Just me."
Find Carrie Fisher's website here.
I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
Fast forward ten or
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more years, and our son was sick and restless. I brought out the Star Wars trilogy VCR tapes to entertain him. After viewing the first movie, he told me, "Thank you."The movie is a touchstone for so many who remember when they first saw it as vividly as recalling where we were on 9-11 or the day President Kennedy was shot.
Princess Leia was a different kind of heroine, the kind I had found lacking when I was growing up in the 1950s. In my make-believe play I was always a cowboy because the cowgirls were weak and needed to be rescued. I resented it when Leia was turned into a sex object, barely dressed in that uncomfortable metal bikini.
Later, we were into Joseph Campbell and loved how the story of Luke Skywalker was a secular manifestation of the eternal hero myth.
We were fans of all the Harrison Ford movies-- from Indiana Jones to Witness. But I never idolized Mark Harmon or Harrison Ford or Carrie Fisher like many did, or do. Over the years I read about Carrie's books and saw her in a few movies and heard about her personal battles. I'm not really a Hollywood bio book fan, so I did not pay much attention to The Princess Diarist until I read such glowing reviews.
I had requested The Princess Diarist through NetGalley before Carrie's death, based on the reviews I had read. Just last week I was notified that I was granted access to the book.
I always give a new book a glance. Sometimes, I keep reading, hooked. This was one of those times. I read the book in a few sittings.
"...if I didn't write about it someone else would." from The Princess Diarist
Earlier this year on my blog I shared memories of my teen years, drawing from the diaries I kept beginning at age 13. Carrie started writing at age 12, about the time I did. I found myself relating to the Carrie. At age nineteen, she was self-deprecating, uncertain, wanting to appear wordily yet wanting to be loved. How secure could a teenager be when the first thing she is told is to lose ten pounds before filming!
The memoir begins with Carrie retelling her back story, getting the role, and how her affair with Harrison Ford began. Her writing is direct with a touch of humor, and an objectivity made possible by the passing of time. Carrie admits she went into filming hoping to have an affair; there was one boyfriend in her past. Harrison was fifteen years older, and married, and not on her radar although he struck her as the iconic Hollywood star. He made her nervous and left her feeling awkward.
The next section is from the diary she kept during the filming of Star Wars: IV. The diary excerpts offer insight into her nineteen-year-old mind. It is quite heartbreaking and poignant, consisting of poems and thoughts reflecting hard lessons about love. She chose to be with Harrison, but chastised herself for choosing obsession and over emotional investment. There was no future with Harrison, their relationship without real meaning.
Teenage Carrie had great self-awareness about her choices but lacked an ability for self-determination. She has little confidence and feels worthless. She is playing at being someone she is not, and is unable to demand what she needs from the relationship. Harrison has strong boundaries, revealing little; the strong, silent type. Writing keeps Carrie together. When filming on location came to an end, Harrison returned to his family.
Forty years on, Carrie can reflect on her "very long one-night stand" and their one-sided love affair objectively. It's all in the past, she remarks, "and who gives a shit?"
The memoir next shifts to how the Princess Leia role took over Carrie's life and how she coped with the fame and demands it brought: being accessible to fans and signing autographs, listening to the stories of worship, making money off the fans, the endless Comic-Con conventions. Carrie grows old, but Princess Leia does not, and a young fan complained, "I want the other Leia, not the old one." But fans also shared stories that warmed her heart and made her feel good.
I loved the story of people asking her, "Well, you wanted to be in show business," so accept the negative side of fame. That lack of empathy riled me. I was asked a similar question once. I complained about the frequent moves and lack of self-determination that came with my husband being in the pastoral ministry. "You married a minister. You knew what you were getting into," the lady told me. "I was nineteen and had no idea about itineracy," I retorted.
We make decisions at age nineteen feeling very grown up and worldly, and then realize how little we understand about the world, or about ourselves. Carrie didn't set out to become a famous Hollywood actress. And she was not prepared.
Last of all, Carrie ruminates, sobbing, on her iconic role. What would she be if not Princess Leia? "Just me."
Find Carrie Fisher's website here.
I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
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LibraryThing member GennaC
As a longtime lover of Star Wars and fan of Leia/Carrie Fisher, I was thrilled to read this, although it did carry a feeling of solemnity with Fisher's recent death. The Princess Diarist is Fisher's reflections on Star Wars and her portrayal of Princess Leia, a youth spent growing up in Hollywood,
What surprised me most about this book was the poignancy of Fisher's journal entries. I suppose I didn't realize how tremendously young Fisher was when filming the first Star Wars movie and felt surprised at her insecurities and moments of self loathing (but at only 19, who could expect anything different?). Her casual despair as a young woman in Hollywood is tangible, particularly as she recounts her affair with Harrison Ford. Fisher paints him in a rather astonishingly bad light, but forgives both herself and Ford for their mutually ill-advised and inevitably doomed romance. I was expecting more details from the set, I think, but considering Fisher's love/hate relationship with Leia and Star Wars, it's understandable that her introspection had a limited focus. Fisher's voice is unique and clever and it hurts to think that this is the final written collection we'll ever receive from her.
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and the experience of playing a role in arguably one of the most well-loved films of all time. She revisits her journals penned during the shooting of the first film and shares anecdotes from the set including the unique trauma of the Leia buns, impressions of her costars, and generally self-deprecating observations on being an actress.What surprised me most about this book was the poignancy of Fisher's journal entries. I suppose I didn't realize how tremendously young Fisher was when filming the first Star Wars movie and felt surprised at her insecurities and moments of self loathing (but at only 19, who could expect anything different?). Her casual despair as a young woman in Hollywood is tangible, particularly as she recounts her affair with Harrison Ford. Fisher paints him in a rather astonishingly bad light, but forgives both herself and Ford for their mutually ill-advised and inevitably doomed romance. I was expecting more details from the set, I think, but considering Fisher's love/hate relationship with Leia and Star Wars, it's understandable that her introspection had a limited focus. Fisher's voice is unique and clever and it hurts to think that this is the final written collection we'll ever receive from her.
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LibraryThing member acanuckreader
This book was an awesome insight into what Carrie's life must've been like when she first got involved in the franchise that would change, and I suppose in some ways enrich and destroy her life all at once. It's an amazing, laugh out loud, frown in sadness, open wound of a book.
I don't know about
The confusion and vulnerability expressed in this only served to make this otherworldly woman seem more human, and more like every one of us who have ever felt insecure about any part of ourselves.
The humour, and frank manner in which she talks about her younger self is both enlightening, as well as refreshing. She doesn't mince words, or try to make herself look better which is awesome.
I don't know about
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you, but my diaries at eighteen certainly didn't possess the eloquence or poetry that the excerpts Carrie shared within this book did. The confusion and vulnerability expressed in this only served to make this otherworldly woman seem more human, and more like every one of us who have ever felt insecure about any part of ourselves.
The humour, and frank manner in which she talks about her younger self is both enlightening, as well as refreshing. She doesn't mince words, or try to make herself look better which is awesome.
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LibraryThing member kell1732
On December, 27 2016, the world lost an amazing woman. Not just because of her role as Princess Leia, but also for her work as a screenwriter, novelist, and mental health advocate. Carrie Fisher meant a lot to a lot of us for various reasons. To me, she played the first character that I truly
After someone like Carrie Fisher passes away, someone who has left us with a body of work to remember them by, I find that the best way to honor them is to read, watch, or listen to their work. In this case, I watched Star Wars and read The Princess Diarist.
At times, it was difficult to read as there are moments when she talks about a future that she will sadly never see, but overall, The Princes Diarist was well worth the read. Fisher, as always, is unapologetic and honest about her time as Princess Leia. Throughout this book, Fisher talks in depth but her affair with Harrison Ford as well her constant struggle to be who everyone wanted her to be, or at least what she believed everyone wanted from her. Through her journal, we are given a glimpse into her life during filming while also getting her insights on that time of her life.
To many young women, Fisher’s feelings about herself and the world around her are rather familiar. The desire to appear more mature and worldly than we really are, to appear cool and confident despite the crippling self-doubt, is something that many of us have been through. In Fisher’s examination of her younger self, we at times see ourselves. However, in this case we have the advantage to hearing the wisdom of a woman who has experienced it all, and she certainly leaves us with some solid advice.
Fisher’s signature self-deprecating humor balances out the bleak tone of her diary entries and leaves us with an insightful and rather memorable memoir about a woman that we will sorely miss.
Memorable Quotes
“I don’t believe people are across-the-board confident. If they are…well, they’ve misjudged the situation where there’s an arrogant result. Mostly people have those few things they do well and hope those things make up for the other shit.”
“I must be who I am and people adjust to it. Don’t try to rush or influence the decision. Do not let what you think they think of you make you stop and question everything you are. Surely between the various yous, you can find that you not only have enough going for you to keep you going, but to “take you far.” Maybe even to Alderaan and back.”
“I should let people I meet do the work of piecing me together until they can complete, or mostly complete, the puzzle. And when they’re finished they can look at the picture that they’ve managed to piece together and decide whether they like it or not. On their own time. Let them discover you.”
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looked up to. Princess Leia taught me not to take crap from anyone, and that a woman can be whatever she wants to be, including but not limited to a leader of a rebellion. Something that, given the current state of things, is inspiring.After someone like Carrie Fisher passes away, someone who has left us with a body of work to remember them by, I find that the best way to honor them is to read, watch, or listen to their work. In this case, I watched Star Wars and read The Princess Diarist.
At times, it was difficult to read as there are moments when she talks about a future that she will sadly never see, but overall, The Princes Diarist was well worth the read. Fisher, as always, is unapologetic and honest about her time as Princess Leia. Throughout this book, Fisher talks in depth but her affair with Harrison Ford as well her constant struggle to be who everyone wanted her to be, or at least what she believed everyone wanted from her. Through her journal, we are given a glimpse into her life during filming while also getting her insights on that time of her life.
To many young women, Fisher’s feelings about herself and the world around her are rather familiar. The desire to appear more mature and worldly than we really are, to appear cool and confident despite the crippling self-doubt, is something that many of us have been through. In Fisher’s examination of her younger self, we at times see ourselves. However, in this case we have the advantage to hearing the wisdom of a woman who has experienced it all, and she certainly leaves us with some solid advice.
Fisher’s signature self-deprecating humor balances out the bleak tone of her diary entries and leaves us with an insightful and rather memorable memoir about a woman that we will sorely miss.
Memorable Quotes
“I don’t believe people are across-the-board confident. If they are…well, they’ve misjudged the situation where there’s an arrogant result. Mostly people have those few things they do well and hope those things make up for the other shit.”
“I must be who I am and people adjust to it. Don’t try to rush or influence the decision. Do not let what you think they think of you make you stop and question everything you are. Surely between the various yous, you can find that you not only have enough going for you to keep you going, but to “take you far.” Maybe even to Alderaan and back.”
“I should let people I meet do the work of piecing me together until they can complete, or mostly complete, the puzzle. And when they’re finished they can look at the picture that they’ve managed to piece together and decide whether they like it or not. On their own time. Let them discover you.”
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LibraryThing member DarthDeverell
In The Princess Diarist, Carrie Fisher looks back on the legacy of her most famous role shortly after reprising Princess Leia in The Force Awakens. Both funny and thoughtful, Fisher's writing continues to entertain and demonstrate why the woman behind the character remains significant. Fisher's
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largest revelation focuses on her affair with Harrison Ford, which she frames against being young in Hollywood. The middle of her book, and the largest section, reprints excerpts from the diary she kept while working on Star Wars. Fisher's passing shortly after the release of this book makes many of the passages all the more poignant. When she examines her legacy or how she thinks she'll be remembered, it's hard not to feel a tug at one's heartstrings. As her final written work, The Princess Diarist offers enjoyable proof that Fisher's legacy is secure. Show Less
LibraryThing member EllsbethB
I enjoyed listening to Carrie narrate her own story in this audio book. The choice to have her daughter, Billie, read Carrie's actual diary entries from when she was a teenager was a nice touch. The iconic "I love you - I know" exchange now has a whole new meaning.
LibraryThing member BenKline
A fun (for the reader, yes/no for Carrie Fisher) look back at Carrie Fisher's time on the set of Star Wars: A New Hope. Primarily her relationship with Harrison Ford (which takes up the bulk of the memoir). Some interesting dealings with post-Leia life, but sadly very little lead up to Episode 7
Like I said, this was primarily a cathartic release for her, about being Leia and about her relationship with Harrison Ford (possibly a bit of bragging as well?). Another interesting look at Fisher's life and times, probably better than Shockaholic and Wishful Drinking, though the three make a very interesting conjoined trilogy.
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(The Force Awakens), and her reclaiming the role once more. Like I said, this was primarily a cathartic release for her, about being Leia and about her relationship with Harrison Ford (possibly a bit of bragging as well?). Another interesting look at Fisher's life and times, probably better than Shockaholic and Wishful Drinking, though the three make a very interesting conjoined trilogy.
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LibraryThing member wagner.sarah35
This short memoir by Carrie Fisher was the perfect read for those who still can't quite believe the actress has passed away. Fun and funny, this was a great read for Star Wars fans and the audiobook has the added treat of being narrated by the author herself!
LibraryThing member Narshkite
A fun listen. Carrie can get a little obsessive, and spend far far too long an a specific subject, but i enjoyed it. This coming from someone who only saw 2 Star Wars movies, and fell asleep in both. Fisher was a true original whose POV will make you smile.
LibraryThing member phyllis2779
I was very disappointed. I really liked other things of Fisher's -- Wishful Drinking, for example. She can be witty and insightful. The first third of the book talks about her early life (including a little bit of info on getting into Star Wars). Then she gets into the part about her relationship
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with Harrison Ford. Way too much teenage angst about relationships for me. I was once a teenage girl and didn't care to revisit it. The last 25 percent of the book is her insights about celebrity experiences, such as going to conventions (she calls it lap dancing). This was the one part of the book I found interesting and raised it from one star to two stars. Show Less
LibraryThing member mountie9
3.5/5
Won't lie I didn't love this one as much as I wanted to and thought I would. I have read all of her other works and have adored them all. I just found this one a little rambling and all over the place. Now its not all disappointing, there are some very wise observations and some wickedly funny
I did really enjoy her take on Comic-Cons etc and her enjoyment (and hell I can imagine how she really told some of the stories about them to her friends and family) of all of the fans she has met over the years of doing lap dances (Yup you have to read, so you can truly understand)
You will be missed Ms Fisher
Favourite Quotes/Passages
"Please!" I interrupted. "You don't have to apologize for my looking older to your daughter after forty years. I look older to me, too, and I don't apologize to myself-though perhaps I should."
Won't lie I didn't love this one as much as I wanted to and thought I would. I have read all of her other works and have adored them all. I just found this one a little rambling and all over the place. Now its not all disappointing, there are some very wise observations and some wickedly funny
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commentary. Also it was interesting reading about her thoughts and feelings during the filming of Star Wars. It also made me quite sad as I always felt a wee connection to her and I never got the chance to meet her. I almost had the chance but I chickened out as I didn't want to have to pay for her autograph and felt silly just going to say hi. I really should have because I wanted to thank her for being so open about her mental health issues and well just for showing us how a real princess should be. That's right kick some imperial ass and trade witty repartee with a scruffy looking nerd herder. That is a princess I can get behindI did really enjoy her take on Comic-Cons etc and her enjoyment (and hell I can imagine how she really told some of the stories about them to her friends and family) of all of the fans she has met over the years of doing lap dances (Yup you have to read, so you can truly understand)
You will be missed Ms Fisher
Favourite Quotes/Passages
"Please!" I interrupted. "You don't have to apologize for my looking older to your daughter after forty years. I look older to me, too, and I don't apologize to myself-though perhaps I should."
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LibraryThing member dcoward
Almost exclusively focused on Fisher's affair with Harrison Ford. I wish we had gotten more into the experience of filming Star Wars.
LibraryThing member bohemianshell
It was good to hear Fisher tell her story in her own voice. Audiobooks are an intriguing form of "immortality." Parts were a little tedious, and it was obvious that she planned to be with us longer than she got to be. In the end, though, all she really wanted to be was Carrie, and that was enough.
LibraryThing member nicolewbrown
In the Princess Diarist, Carrie Fisher talks about and uses bits of journals she discovered that she had written at the time to describe how she felt at the time about herself and about how she felt about the affair she was having with her married co-star Harrison Ford. She couldn't talk to a
So how did an affair with Ford, a married man happen? It started by accident and then she just couldn't believe that he would want to be with her. You could tell that Ford was going to be a major star. And Fisher, even at twenty, knew that she wasn't going to be. So it was flattering to have Ford pay her attention, even if Ford was fifteen years older than she was. On top of that, she had little experience with men. She had one boyfriend, a college boyfriend with whom she had just broken up with. And the handful of other men she had made out with they had not gotten very far. This is all partly due to having a mother who drummed into her head that a guy won't want to hang around if he's getting the milk for free and partly due to her oversexed father who left her mother for Elizabeth Taylor. Ford would feel pretty bad once he found out how little experience she did have because he was perhaps being given a gift that he didn't think he deserved.
Fisher did ask Ford if he was ok with her disclosing their affair before she wrote this book. She only discloses a small part of the diaries and not all of it is about Ford. Some of it is about how she feels about herself. Her insecurities, her growing into adulthood, her trying to make sense of life. They also include poetry. The diaries are beautifully written and show you the writer she would become.
Ford was the only married man with whom she had an affair with. She was pretty serious about that rule for herself. Ford was just somehow the exception to it. They would meet up on Friday nights usually at the place she was borrowing from a friend since it was nicer than the place Ford was staying at. They were all being paid scale for this movie and the housing situation was sad but especially for Ford who was sending home a chunk of his paycheck to his wife and kids back home.
What did Fisher feel towards Ford or Ford her? Read the book to find out. This is a fascinating read and a real insight into Fisher and her take on Leia and Star Wars and it's fans. She says in the book that she is thinking of releasing more of the diaries/journals. However, as we all know she died from complications of a heart attack last week so who knows whether or not her family will release them or let them die with her. I'd love to read more, just because they are so well written it's a joy to read them. But the information contained within might be something they decided is better laid to rest. And I can respect that because the entries here are quite personal and soul-baring. But that was Fisher to the end. Not afraid to talk about herself and her failings. It made her more human and more reachable and someone to look up to at the same time.
Quotes
I do know that women have to look younger longer—in part due to the fact that cragginess doesn’t enhance most women’s overall appearance, and in part because I don’t know that many straight men whose goal is to achieve a kind of dewy teenage appearance. But maybe I don’t get around enough.
-Carrie Fisher (The Princess Diarist p 45)
Of course I think most people want to be liked, I think, especially when you consider the lonely alternatives. Even the fringier members of society—gangsters, drug cartel types, garden-variety serial killers—even they want to be liked in their own endearing ways. They might want to be admired for their own particular brand of impressive awfulness, such as managing to elude the law for longer than anyone in their questionable line of work, or for the unique and even striking manner in which they slaughtered their victims. Clearly there are numerous methods that can be employed in one’s ravenous quest to be loved.-Carrie Fisher (The Princess Diarist p 56)
I wonder if she’s having an affair with Peter and assume that she more than likely is, because Peter is attractive also. Not as attractive as Koo, but he doesn’t have to be because as you no doubt are aware, if you have a penis and a job, being handsome is a fantastic bonus but hardly a necessity.
-Carrie Fisher (The Princess Diarist p 75-6)
Someone has to stand still for you to love them—my choices are always on the run.
-Carrie Fisher (The Princess Diarist p 114)
I’ve got to learn something from my mistakes instead of establishing a new record to break. Maybe stop fooling around with all these human beings and fall in love with a chair. It would have everything that the immediate situation has to offer, and less, which is obviously what I need. Less emotional and intellectual feedback, less warmth, less approval, less patience and less response. The less the merrier. Chairs. They’re always there when you need them and, while their staying implies total devotion, they still manage to remain aloof, noncommittal and insensitive. Immovable and loyal. Reliable and unconsoling. Chairs it is. I must furnish my heart with feelings for furniture.
-Carrie Fisher (The Princess Diarist p 123)
It’s very dangerous to have someone like you, because one day he’ll find that you are not the person he thought you were. He’ll end up someday having only one thing in common with you and that’ll be a shared sense of contempt and disgust for you. Of course you knew all along how foolish and worthless you were, you just hoped that if you crouched down behind yourself enough he wouldn’t see it. But one day when your guard is off-duty you see him see. You both catch you at yourself. Catch you behaving. And then you’re lost. No. You were lost all along.
-Carrie Fisher (The Princess Diarist p 123-4)
It’s not nice being inside my head. It’s a nice place to visit but I don’t want to live in here.
-Carrie Fisher (The Princess Diarist p 135)
If you’d never gotten close I wouldn’t have/noticed when you were far away/But you filled up my nights and then emptied/my days
-Carrie Fisher (The Princess Diarist p 145)
I wish I could go away somewhere but the only problem with that is that I’d have to go too.
-Carrie Fisher (The Princess Diarist p 178)
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friend about the affair because they might tell someone and it might get back to his wife. Fisher had gone onto the set of the movie looking to have an affair or romance, but she was looking at the unmarried men. Carrie, the daughter of "America's Sweetheart's" Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher had a front row seat to her father's infidelity to her mother. She knew what "the other woman" could do to a family and a marriage and wouldn't dream of doing that herself.So how did an affair with Ford, a married man happen? It started by accident and then she just couldn't believe that he would want to be with her. You could tell that Ford was going to be a major star. And Fisher, even at twenty, knew that she wasn't going to be. So it was flattering to have Ford pay her attention, even if Ford was fifteen years older than she was. On top of that, she had little experience with men. She had one boyfriend, a college boyfriend with whom she had just broken up with. And the handful of other men she had made out with they had not gotten very far. This is all partly due to having a mother who drummed into her head that a guy won't want to hang around if he's getting the milk for free and partly due to her oversexed father who left her mother for Elizabeth Taylor. Ford would feel pretty bad once he found out how little experience she did have because he was perhaps being given a gift that he didn't think he deserved.
Fisher did ask Ford if he was ok with her disclosing their affair before she wrote this book. She only discloses a small part of the diaries and not all of it is about Ford. Some of it is about how she feels about herself. Her insecurities, her growing into adulthood, her trying to make sense of life. They also include poetry. The diaries are beautifully written and show you the writer she would become.
Ford was the only married man with whom she had an affair with. She was pretty serious about that rule for herself. Ford was just somehow the exception to it. They would meet up on Friday nights usually at the place she was borrowing from a friend since it was nicer than the place Ford was staying at. They were all being paid scale for this movie and the housing situation was sad but especially for Ford who was sending home a chunk of his paycheck to his wife and kids back home.
What did Fisher feel towards Ford or Ford her? Read the book to find out. This is a fascinating read and a real insight into Fisher and her take on Leia and Star Wars and it's fans. She says in the book that she is thinking of releasing more of the diaries/journals. However, as we all know she died from complications of a heart attack last week so who knows whether or not her family will release them or let them die with her. I'd love to read more, just because they are so well written it's a joy to read them. But the information contained within might be something they decided is better laid to rest. And I can respect that because the entries here are quite personal and soul-baring. But that was Fisher to the end. Not afraid to talk about herself and her failings. It made her more human and more reachable and someone to look up to at the same time.
Quotes
I do know that women have to look younger longer—in part due to the fact that cragginess doesn’t enhance most women’s overall appearance, and in part because I don’t know that many straight men whose goal is to achieve a kind of dewy teenage appearance. But maybe I don’t get around enough.
-Carrie Fisher (The Princess Diarist p 45)
Of course I think most people want to be liked, I think, especially when you consider the lonely alternatives. Even the fringier members of society—gangsters, drug cartel types, garden-variety serial killers—even they want to be liked in their own endearing ways. They might want to be admired for their own particular brand of impressive awfulness, such as managing to elude the law for longer than anyone in their questionable line of work, or for the unique and even striking manner in which they slaughtered their victims. Clearly there are numerous methods that can be employed in one’s ravenous quest to be loved.-Carrie Fisher (The Princess Diarist p 56)
I wonder if she’s having an affair with Peter and assume that she more than likely is, because Peter is attractive also. Not as attractive as Koo, but he doesn’t have to be because as you no doubt are aware, if you have a penis and a job, being handsome is a fantastic bonus but hardly a necessity.
-Carrie Fisher (The Princess Diarist p 75-6)
Someone has to stand still for you to love them—my choices are always on the run.
-Carrie Fisher (The Princess Diarist p 114)
I’ve got to learn something from my mistakes instead of establishing a new record to break. Maybe stop fooling around with all these human beings and fall in love with a chair. It would have everything that the immediate situation has to offer, and less, which is obviously what I need. Less emotional and intellectual feedback, less warmth, less approval, less patience and less response. The less the merrier. Chairs. They’re always there when you need them and, while their staying implies total devotion, they still manage to remain aloof, noncommittal and insensitive. Immovable and loyal. Reliable and unconsoling. Chairs it is. I must furnish my heart with feelings for furniture.
-Carrie Fisher (The Princess Diarist p 123)
It’s very dangerous to have someone like you, because one day he’ll find that you are not the person he thought you were. He’ll end up someday having only one thing in common with you and that’ll be a shared sense of contempt and disgust for you. Of course you knew all along how foolish and worthless you were, you just hoped that if you crouched down behind yourself enough he wouldn’t see it. But one day when your guard is off-duty you see him see. You both catch you at yourself. Catch you behaving. And then you’re lost. No. You were lost all along.
-Carrie Fisher (The Princess Diarist p 123-4)
It’s not nice being inside my head. It’s a nice place to visit but I don’t want to live in here.
-Carrie Fisher (The Princess Diarist p 135)
If you’d never gotten close I wouldn’t have/noticed when you were far away/But you filled up my nights and then emptied/my days
-Carrie Fisher (The Princess Diarist p 145)
I wish I could go away somewhere but the only problem with that is that I’d have to go too.
-Carrie Fisher (The Princess Diarist p 178)
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LibraryThing member tapestry100
This is Carrie Fisher's memoir of her time during the filming of Star Wars Episode IV, including entries from the diaries she kept during that time that she recently discovered. It was a little surreal reading this so soon after both her death and her mother's, as she talks frequently about her
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mother in the book, as well as mentioning a couple of times, in an offhand manner, how she would like to be remembered for certain events. Perhaps it was too soon for me after her death. Not that I was ever necessarily a huge Carrie Fisher fan, but I've certainly been a Star Wars fan my whole life (I saw the original Star Wars when it was released - I was 3), so while there was never necessarily a Carrie Fisher in a my life, there has always been a Princess Leia, and it seemed to hit home a little for me. It also made me unreasonably angry that Carrie Fisher died; in a year of so many celebrity deaths, it seemed like just another death to some, but it made me angry because she overcame so much, and still had so much to do and offer to the world. So, yeah - maybe I should have put a little time in between learning of her death and reading this book, knowing it was her last, but it seemed like the thing to do at the time. It is typically funny in that Carrie Fisher way, but equally sad given the circumstances. I fairly certain, however, that again, in that typically funny Carrie Fisher way, she would have found some way to turn her death into an appropriate epilogue to this book. Show Less
Awards
Hugo Award (Nominee — 2017)
Grammy Award (Winner — 2018)
Los Angeles Public Library Best of the Year (Non-Fiction — 2016)
Language
Original publication date
2016-11-22
ISBN
0399173595 / 9780399173592
Other editions
The princess diarist by Carrie Fisher (Paper Book)