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More to Fisher than Princess Leia

By Staff | Nov 30, 2011

See a new side of actress Carrie Fisher in her new memoir, “Shockaholic.”

Fisher tackled parts of her life in her previous bestselling book, “Wishful Drinking.” In her new book, Fisher continues her story, including the fact that she had been taking shock treatments in order to try to help her bipolar disorder and stay mentally healthy for her daughter. Fisher explains that one of the side effects of this is memory loss, so in a way, she’s writing everything down for herself as well.

Fisher doesn’t hold back about her past. She talks about her struggles with her disorder, depression from the death of a friend, weight issues and drug and alcohol issues.

She writes candidly about the fact that she is, in fact, over fifty and she looks it – in an age where actresses and non-actresses alike try to hold on to youth for as long as possible, taking unnatural means to do so. She writes that she’s not a small stick figure and – surprise! – she doesn’t look like she did when she was 20. Go figure.

Fisher tells the story of dating a Senator Dodd for a brief period of time and her date with him lead to meeting and verbally sparring with Senator Ted Kennedy. She also writes about her unlikely friendship with Michael Jackson and her impressions of him and how a push into the pool helped heal a tense relationship between herself and her former stepmother, Elizabeth Taylor.

She writes about her mother’s failed marriage to her father and the public’s perception of them then. The celebrity couple craze definitely isn’t a new phenomenon. She also writes about her former stepfather, shoe tycoon Harry Karl, whom she had little to do with.

She finally writes about her father’s life and death, their strained and ever changing friendship, their shared drug use, and how she took care of him during his last days.

Fisher doesn’t pull any punches or attempt nostalgia or glossing over the rough parts of her life. She is nothing but truthful about her past, her faults, her highs and her lows, and it makes for an entertaining, sad, enthralling read. It makes you see her beyond just “Princess Leia” or Carrie Fisher the actress and gives you insight into her mindset.