Name: The Princess Diarist
Rating: 3.738693467336684 (199 reviews)
ISBN: 9781784162054

Carrie Fisher

A thoroughly original and intimate memoir by the bestselling author of Postcards from the Edge and Wishful Drinking.

The Princess Diarist

The Hollywood icon best known for her role in "Star Wars" shares interconnected essays exploring her life as the child of Hollywood royalty, adventures on the sets of "Star Wars," and struggles with biploar disorder.

Midveil

Want to hear a brilliant woman roast herself for sleeping with Han Solo? This is the one. The Princess Diarist was way better than I expected. I’m not even a big Star Wars person—I just wanted to soak up some Carrie Fisher wisdom. The book mostly centers around her affair with Harrison Ford during the filming of the first movie in England. She was 19, he was married and emotionally frozen, and the whole thing is both fascinating and uncomfortable. There are some old diary entries sprinkled in, and while at first they were a little cringe (teenage poetry, overthinking, etc.), they eventually landed somewhere unexpectedly adult and honest. That part kind of broke me. What stuck with me most was her voice—wry, sharp, interesting, totally self-aware. She doesn’t try to make herself look cool or smart, but somehow ends up being both. I highly enjoyed listening to her narrate the audiobook (except for the diary entires, done appropriately by a younger actor) and wish it was longer.

"A thoroughly original and intimate memoir by the bestselling author of Postcards from the Edge and Wishful Drinking."

It was weird to read this posthumously. There are odd pages where you feel it was written to be read so, as if she knew the time she had left was short. And others where she writes like she'll have many years left. 

It was a reminder of just how young she was when Star Wars was filmed, and for someone like me who was born some years after Star Wars was released, Carrie Fisher was always a full grown adult, but the Carrie Fisher who actually played Leia was not. 

This book is full of warmth and humour, and I really enjoyed it.

Liam Richardson

It was weird to read this posthumously. There are odd pages where you feel it was written to be read so, as if she knew the time she had left was short. And others where she writes like she'll have many years left. 

It was a reminder of just how young she was when Star Wars was filmed, and for someone like me who was born some years after Star Wars was released, Carrie Fisher was always a full grown adult, but the Carrie Fisher who actually played Leia was not. 

This book is full of warmth and humour, and I really enjoyed it.

Andrea Morales

3.5 ☆'s
a very quick read, carrie’s sarcasm always made me smile and chuckle at the screen, wish it would’ve had more of carrie’s diary excerpts besides the tea on carrison, she’s an amazing writer

Lisa Wright

** spoiler alert **
           Most of the book (the best bits for Star Wars fans) is unedited diary entries written while A New Hope filmed in London. She bookends the diaries with her reflections in 2016.

She revealed she had an affair with Harrison Ford while filming. We get no trashy, sordid details - but we do get a sharp portrait of her inner life and emotional state. She laments his emotional unavailability and is ashamed of having an affair with this married, 35-year-old father of 2. Her beginner's account of working on this cultural phenomenon is interesting as she's as uncertain as any 19-year-old usually is. 

The end made me wistful and a little teary. Sometimes it's like she knew she was at the tail-end of her life. She gets existential at times and mentions death here and there throughout - the odd knowledge how after she dies Leia will continue to exist without her.

She ends the book by asking, "Who would I be if I weren't Princess Leia?" For better or worse, she's been just as much Carrie as she's been Leia since she was 19 years old. She went through a lot of emotions around this over the years, ultimately coming to embrace this unique identity.

yaya

You’re telling me that Carrie Fisher was just a girl?! A girl who fell for unattainable men, had anxieties and insecurities, and at the end of the day just wanted to be left alone? We’re so alike it’s insane. 

Kaitlyn R

Briar's Reviews

The Princess Diarist is a book I have wanting to read for many years. Carrie Fisher was a staple of my childhood, and she inspired me greatly. My heart is heavy thinking about her passing, and I don't even know her! I wish she could have been around longer to share more funny stories, hang out with Gary, see Billie's son (her grandchild), and make the last Star Wars film epic (because it was a trash fire, and at least we might have gotten some cool Princess Leia force powers/fights in).

Carrie's sense of humour inspired mine, so I knew I was gonna love the sassy and sarcastic writing this book brings. She goes through her life in Hollywood - auditioning for Princess Leia an her love affair with Harrison Ford during the filming. It was so interesting to see her honest perspective of herself, her life, her ups, and her downs. This book is so emotionally vulnerable for the Queen we call Carrie, and I have so much respect for her. 

If you love Carrie Fisher and Star Wars as much as I do, this is a must read. It won't be for everyone, but it's one incredible read.

Five out of five stars.

Izza

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 naivet�, 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 candour and introspection of a diary while offering shrewd insight into the type of stardom that few will ever experience.

Ivan Shiel

Carrie Fisher provides a memoir that is part scrap book, part diary and part rambling stream of conscious. While it’s ostensibly about Star Wars it is really about her relationship with Harrison Ford and then fame as the universe’s most famous princess. Wether you like this book is going to rely on enjoying Fisher’s eccentricities - personally I find her delightful company.

Courtney ✿ @librarycutie

This book only made me love Carrie Fisher even more. She’s hilarious, witty, and Princess Leia.

Julia Z Price

This book haven’t got the things I expected but probably that’s why I like it even more! This book had so much more... I really love it

Eva Bailey

Mariane Ferrantino 

More a 3.75 than a 4, but I rounded up because I love everything about Carrie Fisher. It was a little disjointed and stream of consciousness-y, and I wish we got more of the actual diaries. Who knew adolescent Carrie wrote such poetry? I ultimately appreciate how real this woman is in this writing, and how real she always was.

Rebeca Keren Nuñez

Estoy familiarizada con Star Wars, pero no estaba tan familiarizada con la vida de Carrie. Escribe con mucha honestidad, lo cual hace la lectura muy fácil y ágil. Se trata sobre todo de su experiencia y conexión posterior, con la saga y con ser Leia, lo cual no esperaba, pero como fan de la saga me pareció super interesante.

Robin M Cabana

I think this book could have been called "I love you. I know." Carrie Fisher's book focuses on relationships - with Harrison Ford, with fans and with Leia. Each relationship made me think of the quotes from Empire Strikes Back because the love in those relationships was never balanced. Her writing and anecdotes are hilarious. The diary entries from her days filming Star Wars are sad reflections, but there's some good writing, poetry and her sharp sense of humor throughout. In one entry, Carrie said she was going to give up on men and fall in love with a chair and lists all the ways that relationship would be superior. She would "furnish her heart with feelings for furniture." That line cracked me up. I also really enjoyed the stories about being cast in Star Wars, her feelings about that metal bikini and how slaying the giant space slug was her favorite cinematic moment. Her feelings about fans are also pretty funny - everyone thinks she's their own personal Leia but she doesn't even know if she wants to be Leia. (Also made me glad I'm usually to nervous to speak when I've met celebs a cons!)

Carrie Fisher made quite a few jokes about her own mortality in this memoir - which made it all the more bitter sweet. I listened to the audiobook version and cried a lot because I miss Carrie Fisher so much already.

Jess Mutch

I started this audiobook 2 days before Carrie died. Listening to her tell this story was wonderful and heartbreaking. I miss her dearly. She gave us so many wonder stories, including her own.

Ashley Gutierrez

I could feel Carrie’s personality jumping out at me, telling me stories of her life. I would find myself forgetting she’s gone. Worth the read for anyone who misses their space mom 💕

Caroline Lewicki

I prolonged reading The Princess Diarist for so long because it's Carrie Fisher's last book AND I'M JUST NOT READY.

But this book was wonderful and really showed her true feelings about a lot of the experiences she had. She drops a juicy bombshell but it's actually really sad to hear her talk about and the diary excerpts she wrote from that time. I think each of her books tells you a little bit more about who Carrie was but this one really tells you how she felt about a lot of Star Wars related experiences.

Off to watch Empire Strikes Back and cry, brb.

"No. 1 New York Times bestseller"--Cover.

Trula Rockwell

I guess I'm a sucker for the woman. As the first live-action princess I experienced at age 4, Leia was one of the most iconic ones and still sticks with me. The new saying that I lived life long enough for my princesses to become generals is true. But seeing everything behind Leia from Carrie's point of view was even better (may she rest in piece). Though never having the pleasure of meeting her, I will say that this made me feel just a tiny bit closer to her. 
She's an amazing woman and this depicted the world from her point of view during the Star Wars movies and her life after. Much more interesting than hearing it from the gentlemen of the movie, I will say that. Totally worth the time to read!

Saskia P

Das Buch war so gut. So so so gut. Oh Carrie. Ich habe so viele Stellen markiert wie noch nie zuvor bei einem Buch.

mary

Perfect book for any Star Wars or Carrie Fisher fan! I haven't laughed out loud while reading a book in a long time! I'd recommend this to anyone!

I enjoyed parts of it, especially the beginning. When I got to the actual diary pages, the change in writing style threw me: her diary pages were much more literary than the conversational way she wrote the first chapters, and I found myself skimming quite a lot of them. There were some golden nuggets in them though, like "I act like someone in a bomb shelter trying to raise everyone's spirits," and I enjoyed some of the poems. The rest of the book was kind of random and I found myself skimming over the autograph chapter because of all the rambling from fans she quoted, but for the most part the book was an enjoyable read. I will definitely read Wishful Drinking to see how it compares, as I really enjoy her conversational writing.

Jessica Williamson

Meh. I think if you've read Wishful Drinking you should probably just skip this. 

Honestly she mostly just talks about her affair with Harrison and honestly, no matter how much she said she wasn't trying to paint him in a bad light, I kind of want to punch him in the face. 

I couldn't really stand the diaries part and toward the end where she mostly just talked about meeting people at conventions and how horrible it all was and I just... couldn't get into it.

The Princess Diarist

Reviews

Highlights