The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher

This had been on my list before Fisher died so when I got the Audible credit, I went ahead and bought it. I've read several other of Fisher's books and they made me laugh. I was hoping this would do the same and give me a behind the scenes look at the making of Star Wars.

There were definite parts of this book that were very funny. Fisher herself read the book with her daughter Billie reading other parts. Overall, though, this book actually made me feel a bit uncomfortable.

Fisher talked a great deal about her affair with a then-married Harrison Ford. Granted, it's 40 years after it happened and Ford has re-married twice more since then, but I think it was the "Maybe he'll divorce her and marry ME!" commentary that bothered me. Fisher was only 19 during the filming of Star Wars so her young, naive way of dealing with an older man made sense. The diaries that Fisher based this book on basically only covered the affair and her desperate need to have Ford just love her and swoop her away to bliss. This topic covered about 2/3 of the book.

There was a bit of funny insight from the set as well as some disturbing insight. I'm not sure Fisher found it disturbing, at least she blew it off in the book, but the crew getting a 19 year old female actor drunk as hell and then trying to escort her away from the party to be alone with them....that reads as dangerous to me. Fisher didn't believe any harm would come to her, but again, she was naive. "Luckily", Ford rescued her from the crew with the admonishment that she clearly couldn't make a decision for herself, only to go after her himself in the backseat of a car. Hence my Luckily in quotes. Harrison.....she was too drunk to make a decision for herself.

I did have trouble listening to a lovestruck, starry-eyed 19 year old girl's poetry. That wasn't the fun part of this book.

I think I will recommend Carrie's other books ahead of this one, but a die hard fan will still want to read The Princess Diarist.