''Wishful Drinking'' is an autobiographical humor book by American actress and author

Carrie Fisher Carrie Frances Fisher (October 21, 1956 – December 27, 2016) was an American actress and writer. She played Princess Leia in the ''Star Wars'' films (1977–1983). She reprised the role in'' Star Wars: The Force Awakens'' (2015), ''The Last ...

, published by

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pu ...

in 2008. Fisher's book was based on her one-woman stage show, which she developed with writer/director Joshua Ravetch. The show debuted at The Geffen Playhouse. Fisher performed with Ravetch co-creating and directing. It enjoyed a successful

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

run and then toured in other cities. In 2010, HBO filmed a feature-length documentary of the stage play.

Book reception

''Wishful Drinking'' received generally positive reviews from critics. The January 2009 ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' review described it as a "funny, sardonic little memoir", but "pretty slight, padded out with big type, extra space between the lines and some family photographs, and it displays at times an almost antic need to entertain. The paragraphs are short, and the jokes – the puns, the wisecracks, the deadpan one-liners – come rattling along at the rate of one every other sentence or so." '' Salon'' reviewer

Rebecca Traister Rebecca Traister (born 1975) is an American author and journalist. Traister is a writer-at-large for ''New York'' magazine and its website ''The Cut'', and a contributing editor at ''Elle'' magazine. Traister wrote for ''The New Republic'' from Fe ...

found the book quite funny in large part, but was disappointed that "instead of pushing aside the twinkling craziness of her outside life to meaningfully reveal the crazy on the inside, as she has always done so well, Fisher is now gathering all the starry stuff around her for comfort and reassurance about who she is and what she means." The author, who died on December 27, 2016, had written the following comment in the book, and it was widely published by the news media after her death:

Stage adaptation

Carrie Fisher - Wishful Drinking - Broadway - Studio 54

The book followed Fisher's one-woman play in which Fisher had been performing. Developed originally at The Geffen Playhouse with Josh Ravetch co-creating and directing the world premiere, it moved to

Berkeley Repertory Theatre Berkeley Repertory Theatre is a regional theater company located in Berkeley, California. It runs seven productions each season from its two stages in Downtown Berkeley. History The company was founded in 1968, as the East Bay's first resident p ...

near San Francisco at the beginning of 2008, the production opened in a limited run on Broadway at Studio 54 on September 22, 2009 (previews) and October 4, 2009, and closed on January 17, 2010. After its successful San Francisco Bay Area run and before moving to Broadway, ''Wishful Drinking'' played at, among other venues, the

Arena Stage Arena Stage is a not-for-profit regional theater based in Southwest, Washington, D.C. Established in 1950, it was the first racially integrated theater in Washington, D.C. and its founders helped start the U.S. regional theater movement. It is ...

in Washington, D.C. in September 2008, and

Seattle Repertory Theatre Seattle Repertory Theatre (familiarly known as "The Rep") is a major regional theatre located in Seattle, Washington, at the Seattle Center. It is a member of Theatre Puget Sound Each claimed lost revenue at the hands of the other.

Film documentary

HBO cable television released a filmed documentary of the stage show, directed by

Fenton Bailey World of Wonder Productions is an American production company founded in 1991 by filmmakers Randy Barbato and Portsmouth-born Fenton Bailey. Based in Los Angeles, California, the company specializes in documentary television and film productio ...

and

Randy Barbato World of Wonder Productions is an American production company founded in 1991 by filmmakers Randy Barbato and Portsmouth-born Fenton Bailey. Based in Los Angeles, California, the company specializes in documentary television and film productio ...

, and first broadcast in December 2010. The 76-minute film was released on DVD on September 13, 2011. The film production and DVD received a mixture of reviews. In the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'', Robert Lloyd described the performance captured: "Fisher can be broad, but that is also the person she plays everywhere now: a little larger than life, worn but not worn out. She's funny as an actress, and as a writer makes memorable phrases". ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'' reviewer Matthew Gilbert wrote, "Fisher’s obsession with her parents and stepparents can be a little tiresome, to be honest, even while her tales of Hollywood absurdity remain outrageous ... Fisher even starts to seem boastful about her dysfunction ..." Continuing, "Fortunately Fisher does have some self-awareness about the potential for her show to seem like a narcissistic screed. That helps." DVDTalk reviewer Jason Bailey wrote of the released DVD, "To put across the brilliance of ''Wishful Drinking'', all Bailey and Barbato really needed to do was put Fisher on stage, and turn on the cameras. They do that skillfully and unobtrusively". The DVD's content received 4/5 stars, video quality 3/5, audio quality 3.5/5, extras 2.5/5, replay 4/5, with final advice of "Highly Recommended".

References

External links

* *
''Wishful Drinking''
at Broadway.com
"Comedic Postscripts From the Edge" ''New York Times'', November 15, 2006
{{Carrie Fisher 2008 non-fiction books Books by Carrie Fisher American autobiographies Simon & Schuster books Comedy books Memoirs about alcoholism American plays Plays for one performer