Carrie's Diary Story

Bruce Von Stiers

Several days ago I was talking with someone about the death of Carrie Fisher and how most of the attention was being drawn to her role as Princess Leia in Star Wars. I mentioned that Carrie was also a great writer, having written books such as Postcards From The Edge. To which my friend said, “I saw the movie. That was a book?”

Well, Carrie Fisher was much more than just an actress. Some of her writing was in an autobiographical sense, while others weren't. But Carrie did write a tell-all, almost, before she died. This book deals with the how and why of the first Star Wars film, her supposed affair with Harrison Ford while filming and some of the things that stardom brought her.

The title of the book is The Princess Diarist. It was published by Blue Rider Press and has two hundred fifty seven pages.

Carrie begins the book with a timeline of events that happened in 1976. From the banning of Red Dye No. 2 to Charlie's Angels to the farewell concert of The Band, many things happened that year. And one minor thing happened that year that would change so many people's lives forever. That minor thing being the filming of Star Wars. Carrie then fast-forwards to 2013 when George Lucas announces a new Star Wars film which would include some of the cast from the first one.

Carrie tells a bit about her life in real life and on film before her role in Star Wars. She tells of interacting with Warren Beatty and reading lines with John Travolta at an audition. After not getting a couple of coveted roles in films it's off to England to drama school for Carrie.

Carrie then delves into her audition for the role of Leia and how she finally got the role. And she begins the building blocks of her tale of how the filming went. From hours of being made to endure hair style changes to cutting loose at a local pub with cast and crew members, Carrie takes the reader through some of the more humorous moments of working on the film.

Over time there has been massive speculation about Carrie and co-star Harrison Ford having an affair. Was it just sex, or were they in love? Or did it really happen at all? Or was it so torrid and steamy that it should never be spoken of? Carrie sheds a lot of light on the entire subject. She covers a lot of detail on how they came to be a couple, sort of. Carrie tells of things they did and didn't do together as a couple. One area she stayed away from, purposely, was detailing their sex life. Carrie alludes to her own sense of privacy for the intimacy she shared with Harrison Ford. Although that might seem a bit strange to some, I applaud the fact Carrie wanted to keep that aspect of the affair private.

As for the diarist that is mentioned in the book's title, Carrie kept some sort of diary while filming Star Wars. It was only recently that she re-discovered these bits of her life that she'd written down. The reader is treated to sixty-eight pages of entries from those days. Some are dark ramblings, others are poetic in nature. Some are dialog that may have been real or imagined. And some are just abstract.

As Carrie draws nearer to the close of the book, she writes about going to conventions and signing autographs. She tells of how she called the whole process a “Celebrity Lap Dance” and the reason for that term. Carrie shares some dialog between her and people seeking her autograph. Whether those were real exchanges or made up, they were pretty hilarious. Oh, did I mention that this book that while this book doesn't have a lot of tongue-in-cheek, it provides quite a bit of dark humor.

There aren't too many things that Star War fans don't know about the filming of the first film. Or about Carrie Fisher from beginning to end. But to have her tell her own side of things, from her own unique perspective, make this book a must read.

The Princess Diarist in available at most major book retailers.

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© 2017 Bruce E Von Stiers