Wishful Drinking
2008 book by Carrie Fisher
title: "Wishful Drinking" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["2008-non-fiction-books", "books-by-carrie-fisher", "american-autobiographies", "simon-&-schuster-books", "comedy-books", "memoirs-about-alcoholism", "health-and-wellness-books", "books-about-food-and-drink", "dieting-books", "books-about-life-extension", "self-help-books", "american-plays", "plays-for-one-performer"] description: "2008 book by Carrie Fisher" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wishful_Drinking" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary 2008 book by Carrie Fisher ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox book "]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Wishful Drinking |
| image | Wishful drinking (book).jpg |
| alt | Cover shows what appears to be Carrie Fisher's character Princess Leia, slumped over and holding a martini glass. |
| author | Carrie Fisher & Joshua Ravetch |
| audio_read_by | Carrie Fisher |
| country | United States |
| language | English |
| genre | Humor, |
| Autobiography | |
| publisher | Simon & Schuster |
| release_date | December 2, 2008 |
| media_type | Print (hardback) |
| pages | 163 (hardback edition) |
| isbn | 1-4391-0225-2 |
| isbn_note | (hardback edition) |
| dewey | 791.43028092 22 |
| congress | PS3556.I8115 Z46 2008 |
| oclc | 232979321 |
| followed_by | Shockaholic |
| :: |
| name = Wishful Drinking | title_orig = | translator = | image = Wishful drinking (book).jpg | alt = Cover shows what appears to be Carrie Fisher's character Princess Leia, slumped over and holding a martini glass. | author = Carrie Fisher & Joshua Ravetch | audio_read_by = Carrie Fisher | cover_artist = | country = United States | language = English | series = | genre = Humor, Autobiography | publisher = Simon & Schuster | release_date = December 2, 2008 | media_type = Print (hardback) | pages = 163 (hardback edition) | isbn = 1-4391-0225-2 | isbn_note = (hardback edition) | dewey = 791.43028092 22 | congress = PS3556.I8115 Z46 2008 | oclc = 232979321 | preceded_by = | followed_by = Shockaholic
Wishful Drinking is an autobiographical humor book by American actress and author Carrie Fisher, published by Simon & Schuster in 2008. Fisher's book was based on her one-woman stage show, which she developed with writer/director Joshua Ravetch.
The show debuted at The Geffen Playhouse. Fisher performed with Ravetch co-creating and directing. It enjoyed a successful Broadway run and then toured in other cities. In 2010, HBO filmed a feature-length documentary of the stage play.
Book reception
Wishful Drinking received generally positive reviews from critics. The January 2009 New York Times review described it as a "funny, sardonic little memoir", but "pretty slight, padded out with big type, extra space between the lines and some family photographs, and it displays at times an almost antic need to entertain. The paragraphs are short, and the jokes – the puns, the wisecracks, the deadpan one-liners – come rattling along at the rate of one every other sentence or so." Salon reviewer Rebecca Traister found the book quite funny in large part, but was disappointed that "instead of pushing aside the twinkling craziness of her outside life to meaningfully reveal the crazy on the inside, as she has always done so well, Fisher is now gathering all the starry stuff around her for comfort and reassurance about who she is and what she means."
The author, who died on December 27, 2016, had written the following comment in the book, and it was widely published by the news media after her death:
Stage adaptation
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Carrie_Fisher_-Wishful_Drinking-Broadway-_Studio_54.jpg" caption="Carrie Fisher's play on Broadway at Studio 54"] ::
The book followed Fisher's one-woman play in which Fisher had been performing. Developed originally at The Geffen Playhouse with Josh Ravetch co-creating and directing the world premiere, it moved to Berkeley Repertory Theatre near San Francisco at the beginning of 2008, the production opened in a limited run on Broadway at Studio 54 on September 22, 2009 (previews) and October 4, 2009, and closed on January 17, 2010. After its successful San Francisco Bay Area run and before moving to Broadway, Wishful Drinking played at, among other venues, the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., in September 2008, and Seattle Repertory Theatre April – May 2009.
Production rights dispute
While the show met with critical and popular success on Broadway in New York, Fisher was soon embroiled in a battle with producer Jonathan Reinis over its production rights. Each claimed lost revenue at the hands of the other.
Film documentary
HBO cable television released a filmed documentary of the stage show, directed by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, and first broadcast in December 2010.{{cite news |title=Television review: Carrie Fisher's Wishful Drinking |date=December 11, 2010 |first=Robert |last=Lloyd |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-dec-11-la-et-1211-wishful-drinking-20101211-story.html |archive-date=May 29, 2024 |access-date=August 15, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240529011839/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-dec-11-la-et-1211-wishful-drinking-20101211-story.html |url-status=live |url=http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/50191/wishful-drinking/ |title=Wishful Drinking review |first=Jason |last=Bailey |date=August 9, 2011 |publisher=DVDTalk.com |access-date=September 18, 2011 |archive-date=August 18, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110818155910/http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/50191/wishful-drinking/ |url-status=live |url=http://store.hbo.com/carrie-fisher-wishful-drinking-dvd/detail.php?p=299540 |title=Wishful Drinking DVD release |publisher=HBO |date=September 13, 2011 |access-date=September 18, 2011 |archive-date=March 29, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120329042814/http://store.hbo.com/carrie-fisher-wishful-drinking-dvd/detail.php?p=299540 |url-status=live
References
References
- McGrath, Charles. (January 1, 2009). "Princess Leia's Wit Tames the Dark Side". [[The New York Times]].
- Traister, Rebecca. (December 3, 2008). "Princess Leia's wild, bipolar adventures".
- Busis, Helen. (December 27, 2016). "Carrie Fisher Had Just One Request for Her Obituary". [[Vanity Fair (magazine).
- (April 2, 2010). "07/08 main season: wishful drinking". [[Berkeley Repertory Theatre]].
- Healy, Patrick. (November 10, 2009). "''Wishful Drinking'' and ''Circle Mirror Transformation'' Extend Runs". The New York Times.
- Jones, Kenneth. (January 17, 2010). "The Party's Over: Carrie Fisher's ''Wishful Drinking'' Closes Jan. 17". [[Playbill]].
- "''Wishful Drinking'' listing".
- "''Wishful Drinking'' listing".
- Riedel, Michael. (February 17, 2010). "Star's war over play". [[New York Post]].
- Gilbert, Matthew. (December 10, 2010). "''Wishful Drinking'' a guided tour through a dysfunctional past". [[The Boston Globe]].
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