Rating: 3
One day I will rate something not a three again, I promise.
Anyone who knows me is aware that I am pop-culturally and celebrity challenged. I go to the movie theater maybe once a year, I don’t watch tv, I don’t listen to the radio… You get the picture. This has nothing to do with hating or looking down on such things, there’s just other stuff I’d rather do, like read or play video games for three hours.
So when it came time for my celebrity bio pick, I was kind of at a loss. The thought crossed my mind, “Would it really be cheating to pick up one of these Marilyn Monroe photography books?” But I decided to stick it out with the short list of celebrity names I knew and try to find a personality I could stomach. Carrie Fisher fit that bill. I knew nothing going into this aside from the fact that she played Princess Leia in Star Wars and that she was apparently really funny, so here we go.
Surprisingly, I enjoyed this book well enough for being someone who really doesn’t care about what’s going on in Hollywood. Fisher can tell a story really well, and manages to switch from a hilarious tone to poignant realization in a single sentence. I enjoyed how she talked about the concept of celebrity, pointing out how human they are. This goes along with why I don’t keep up with them – I can hardly keep up with my actual friends, why should I care who some chick in Hollywood is dating? She also talks about “celebrity” as an active force for some people, especially in the chapter about Michael Jackson who was so “other” even in famous circles as to actually make people wonder just how like anyone else he could be. She skillfully writes about these people and events with love, though, and I really enjoyed that about this book.
I doubt I will read another one of her books (my to-read list is just too long), but I’m glad I read this one.
This post has been a part of my Read the Store Challenge for 2014.
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Life Flails 