First published 2008
Carrie Fisher opens her life story with characteristic sharp humor. Born into Hollywood royalty, she landed the role of Princess Leia at nineteen in a space opera that would define her career. Fisher refuses to sugarcoat the darker chapters that followed her early success. She navigates a demanding acting career while raising her daughter alone. Mental illness becomes a recurring battle, leading to multiple stays in psychiatric facilities. Addiction complicates her already turbulent existence. Her personal relationships prove equally dramatic, from her marriage and divorce to musician Paul Simon to the shock of her daughter's father leaving her for another man. Fisher even faces the trauma of discovering a friend's body in her bed one morning. Through Elizabeth Taylor's presence as her stepmother and other surreal Hollywood moments, Fisher maintains her biting wit. The memoir reveals how she survived the collision between public fame and private struggle, finding humor even in her darkest experiences.
Genres: addiction, autobiography, mental-illness, biography-memoir
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: overcoming-adversity, personal-struggle
Setting: Hollywood
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
163 pages · Hardcover · Simon & Schuster
Content warnings: addiction, mental-illness