I’m discovering that hearing an author read his/her memoir, it brings the writing to life and makes it seem very conversational. Carrie Fisher does an amazing job and narrating the story of her life. The inflections, laughs, shouts, and interruptions incorporate a level of sincerity and humor that wouldn’t be available by just reading her memoir. I’m sad to say that I’m coming late to Ms. Fisher’s works. They’ve been on my to-read list for awhile but it was her untimely death that pushed me to read (listen) to them.
There’s something about the way that Ms. Fisher recounts her story that takes the reader from the book and into a conversation with her. I’ve never heard another audiobook in which the narrator was able to break the “fourth wall” and can make you feel like he or she is speaking with the reader face to face rather than reading a manuscript.
What I appreciate about “Wishful Drinking” is Ms. Fisher’s honesty and humbleness about her life. She admits that she lives a life of privilege. At the same time that she acknowledges her privilege, underlying this privilege is a life lacking in a stable family as well as her struggle with mental illness.
What is relatable is the nuances of her life. The oddities she notices about her parents, her struggles as an adolescent to fit into her world and her struggle with drug addiction and mental illness. She conveys the idea that while Hollywood portrays its denizens and American royalty, they are just as human and messed up as the rest of us peons.