My Ramblings on The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher

The Princess Diarist
By: Carrie Fisher
Release Date: October 18, 2016

Summary: 

The Princess Diarist is Carrie Fisher’s intimate, hilarious and revealing recollection of what happened behind the scenes on one of the most famous film sets of all time, the first Star Wars movie. 

When Carrie Fisher recently discovered the journals she kept during the filming of the first Star Wars movie, she was astonished to see what they had preserved—plaintive love poems, unbridled musings with youthful naiveté, and a vulnerability that she barely recognized. Today, her fame as an author, actress, and pop-culture icon is indisputable, but in 1977, Carrie Fisher was just a (sort-of) regular teenager. 

With these excerpts from her handwritten notebooks, The Princess Diarist is Fisher’s intimate and revealing recollection of what happened on one of the most famous film sets of all time—and what developed behind the scenes. And today, as she reprises her most iconic role for the latest Star Wars trilogy, Fisher also ponders the joys and insanity of celebrity, and the absurdity of a life spawned by Hollywood royalty, only to be surpassed by her own outer-space royalty. Laugh-out-loud hilarious and endlessly quotable, The Princess Diarist brims with the candor and introspection of a diary while offering shrewd insight into the type of stardom that few will ever experience.

My Ramblings: 

By way of a disclaimer I should probably start this by saying that I was and continue to be a massive Carrie Fisher fan. I'm also a complete Star Wars nerd. My room as a kid was wall papered with posters and pictures and I own no less then 4 complete collections of the movies. My room as an adult still includes Star Wars art, collectibles and one very old Han Solo, life size cut out. My library at work has Star Wars posters, a Kylo Ren figurine and multiple pins and patches hanging off of various bulletin boards. In other words, I am 100% predisposed to adoring this book. 

Giving any sort of real review here is almost a lost cause. Every time I try I end up just recounting the stories Fisher tells about what it was like to grow up in her family, to be thrust into the spot light and to take on the iconic role of Princess Leia. Me recounting these stories is a poor imitation of how Fisher writes, so why even try. I'll simply tell you to go buy this book. If you love Fisher, buy it. If you love Star Wars, buy it. If you love Hollywood Gossip and insider stories of celebrities acting like fool, buy it. If you have a bit of a crush on Han Solo or Harrison Ford, definitely buy it. This book was an absolute delight to read and if I'm being honest, I was a little sad when it ended. It felt like visiting an old friend and getting all the best gossip over tea (or mimosas, your choice) and I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that I wish there was more time with Fisher to visit and laugh about the strange and magical world she lived in. ​