My reason for reading this novel is an interesting one. One day while strolling the Cliffs of Moher in County Clare, Ireland I spotted a plastic bag in the grass. Outraged, I stomped over to pick up the litter, but noticed that inside the bag was a book. Happily, I had discovered a Book Crossing free book. It travels around the world, being read and then released to be found again by person after person after person. How cool is that?
So far, Texas is the only other place the book has been outside of Ireland. I haven’t released it yet. Not sure where to do it. I’d like it to be somewhere uniquely Austin, but also somewhere it won’t be misconstrued as litter and thrown away. Perhaps my readers would like to suggest something?
As for the book itself, it was mediocre at best. I can see why people wouldn’t have a hard time letting it go. I know I certainly won’t! A book by Carrie Fisher (of Princess Leia fame), it reads as a fictional autobiography of Fisher’s life. The protagonist spends a stint in rehab and then lives the rest of her Hollywood life attempting to make her big break and to find love. Sadly, the story falls a bit flat. It is disjointed and difficult to follow–a jumble of narrative styles that follow no pattern and therefore make reading more of a chore than a pleasure. The plot is dull and the character is not one I was at all interested in. I wish I had more to say in praise of Fisher’s writing, because it seems that a great many of her ventures have been flops. But she is not a very talented writer, and the only reason I finished the book was to be able to review it and pass it on for the next person to find. Who knows? They may enjoy it more than I did.
I did appreciate the humor in the novel. Fisher portrays well the egotistical and shallow nature of Hollywood by creating characters that are vain and vapid. I also enjoyed the fact that, though it’s a story about a recovering drug addict, it wasn’t incredibly and morbidly depressing. She wrote it so that even the most dire of the addicts’ circumstances were light and humorous. Fortunately, everyone got help and most “lived happily ever after.” Oops! I gave away the ending, but I don’t recommend the book to anyone, so I don’t feel bad!
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