Carrie Fisher's Book "Wishful Drinking"

I took some time to look at Carrie Fisher's new book Wishful Drinking the other day. Princess Leia's done a lot of interviews and promotion about the book so I thought I would give it a shot. Most of the reviews seem to refer to the book as 'funny.'
I didn't find it so.
There's a strong sadness and detachment that permeates this whole narrative. Fisher says often that she is, by virtue of her lineage and familial circumstances, different from most. Many of the jokes are made at the expense of her upbringing and, while I was expecting to be amused by the many anecdotes and vignettes, I found out that I wasn't.
On the other hand, the book reads very quickly and it provides a 'reading' of old-school Hollywood.
And to quote one of Fisher's own lines from the book: “If my life wasn’t funny, it would just be true, and that is unacceptable.” And perhaps therein lies the sadness.

 Subscribe to HetPer

 Subscribe to Gendering the Media Podcast

Aida?

I was at the grocery store on a usual five-minute run and while waiting in line, an older gentleman comes to me and says something like: "How're you doing?'
I say: "Fine, thank you. You?"
But he stayed put and asked, what I thought was a similar question. This time I thought he asked: "Done?"
To which I said, "Ah, yes." But he continued to ask yet another question.
Finally, I 'read' him correctly. What he had been asking me all along was: "Aida?"
To which I said, "Aida? Oh, yes, yes, I have been whistling Aida. Ha. You a Verdi fan?"
All he said was 'yes' accompanied by a smiling nod and then he moved on to his line.

Yet another example of my quotidian, quiet, and totally unaware whistling. And it's always Verdi. I have, however, graduated to something other than the oh-so-high-frequency "La donna e mobile." And exchanging a little Verdi-related 'hello' with a perfect stranger made the little grocery run feel like something other than the usual inconsequential 5-minute experience.

 Subscribe to HetPer

 Subscribe to Gendering the Media Podcast