Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

Unavailable
The Princess Diarist
Unavailable
The Princess Diarist
Unavailable
The Princess Diarist
Audiobook5 hours

The Princess Diarist

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

()

Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

When Carrie Fisher 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 naiveté, 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 teenager with an all-consuming crush on her costar, Harrison Ford. 

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.  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 candor and introspection of a diary while offering shrewd insight into the type of stardom that few will ever experience.

Editor's Note

Intimate and revealing...

A witty and wry look behind the scenes of “Star Wars,” taken from the pages of young Carrie Fisher’s journal entries.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateNov 22, 2016
ISBN9780399565564
Unavailable
The Princess Diarist

Related to The Princess Diarist

Related audiobooks

Personal Memoirs For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for The Princess Diarist

Rating: 3.7202549716713875 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

706 ratings75 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher is an interesting book about her time during the Star War movies mostly. It was very cool since it was about celebrities everyone knows and loves but the rest was copies of her diary and just ramblings of a young teen. Interesting and good but not what I expected. I got this book from the library.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    In 1977 when Star Wars IV: A New Hope came out my husband and I were in our mid-twenties. We loved the movie but not as much as the youth we were working with. The teens bragged about how many times they had seen the movie. The movie was more than a hit, it transformed culture. Fast forward ten or more years, and our son was sick and restless. I brought out the Star Wars trilogy VCR tapes to entertain him. After viewing the first movie, he told me, "Thank you."The movie is a touchstone for so many who remember when they first saw it as vividly as recalling where we were on 9-11 or the day President Kennedy was shot.Princess Leia was a different kind of heroine, the kind I had found lacking when I was growing up in the 1950s. In my make-believe play I was always a cowboy because the cowgirls were weak and needed to be rescued. I resented it when Leia was turned into a sex object, barely dressed in that uncomfortable metal bikini.Later, we were into Joseph Campbell and loved how the story of Luke Skywalker was a secular manifestation of the eternal hero myth.We were fans of all the Harrison Ford movies-- from Indiana Jones to Witness. But I never idolized Mark Harmon or Harrison Ford or Carrie Fisher like many did, or do. Over the years I read about Carrie's books and saw her in a few movies and heard about her personal battles. I'm not really a Hollywood bio book fan, so I did not pay much attention to The Princess Diarist until I read such glowing reviews.I had requested The Princess Diarist through NetGalley before Carrie's death, based on the reviews I had read. Just last week I was notified that I was granted access to the book.I always give a new book a glance. Sometimes, I keep reading, hooked. This was one of those times. I read the book in a few sittings."...if I didn't write about it someone else would." from The Princess DiaristEarlier this year on my blog I shared memories of my teen years, drawing from the diaries I kept beginning at age 13. Carrie started writing at age 12, about the time I did. I found myself relating to the Carrie. At age nineteen, she was self-deprecating, uncertain, wanting to appear wordily yet wanting to be loved. How secure could a teenager be when the first thing she is told is to lose ten pounds before filming!The memoir begins with Carrie retelling her back story, getting the role, and how her affair with Harrison Ford began. Her writing is direct with a touch of humor, and an objectivity made possible by the passing of time. Carrie admits she went into filming hoping to have an affair; there was one boyfriend in her past. Harrison was fifteen years older, and married, and not on her radar although he struck her as the iconic Hollywood star. He made her nervous and left her feeling awkward. The next section is from the diary she kept during the filming of Star Wars: IV. The diary excerpts offer insight into her nineteen-year-old mind. It is quite heartbreaking and poignant, consisting of poems and thoughts reflecting hard lessons about love. She chose to be with Harrison, but chastised herself for choosing obsession and over emotional investment. There was no future with Harrison, their relationship without real meaning.Teenage Carrie had great self-awareness about her choices but lacked an ability for self-determination. She has little confidence and feels worthless. She is playing at being someone she is not, and is unable to demand what she needs from the relationship. Harrison has strong boundaries, revealing little; the strong, silent type. Writing keeps Carrie together. When filming on location came to an end, Harrison returned to his family.Forty years on, Carrie can reflect on her "very long one-night stand" and their one-sided love affair objectively. It's all in the past, she remarks, "and who gives a shit?"The memoir next shifts to how the Princess Leia role took over Carrie's life and how she coped with the fame and demands it brought: being accessible to fans and signing autographs, listening to the stories of worship, making money off the fans, the endless Comic-Con conventions. Carrie grows old, but Princess Leia does not, and a young fan complained, "I want the other Leia, not the old one." But fans also shared stories that warmed her heart and made her feel good.I loved the story of people asking her, "Well, you wanted to be in show business," so accept the negative side of fame. That lack of empathy riled me. I was asked a similar question once. I complained about the frequent moves and lack of self-determination that came with my husband being in the pastoral ministry. "You married a minister. You knew what you were getting into," the lady told me. "I was nineteen and had no idea about itineracy," I retorted.We make decisions at age nineteen feeling very grown up and worldly, and then realize how little we understand about the world, or about ourselves. Carrie didn't set out to become a famous Hollywood actress. And she was not prepared.Last of all, Carrie ruminates, sobbing, on her iconic role. What would she be if not Princess Leia? "Just me."Find Carrie Fisher's website here.I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I have wanted to read this for awhile now. I was so excited when it first came out. I was really hoping for a behind the scenes look at the making of Star Wars. I got a little of that, but not enough. I wanted more. Seeing Harrison Ford through Carrie's eyes made me like him less. I have always liked the characters he plays, but reading about the man was not so great.

    Overall, the book was not as good as I was hoping. I liked it, but I can't say I loved it.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    It was lovely to hear Carrie Fisher's voice again. She's sweet and funny - I enjoyed the on set stories about Star Wars. However, most of the stories were about her teenage affair with Harrison Ford - important to her, but teenage obsession can run on, especially in the pages from her diary of the time (that part was narrated by her daughter, which I thought was a nice touch)
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I was struck by how much this book focuses on her affair with Harrison Ford versus the broader experience of filming Star Wars as a whole. I knew the topic would come up, obviously, but I wasn’t necessarily prepared for how central that topic would be to the book. I also wasn’t prepared for how poorly Harrison would come across in Fisher’s telling. Honestly, I’m aware that he’s probably not the nicest person in real life, but her portrayal of him reads so much like a person who wants to believe that their friend is a nice person when in fact…he’s kind of an asshole. If she had interspersed the diary entries of 1976 Carrie with current day Carrie’s reflections it could have been a much stronger work with a better sense of what she’s learned and how the experience changed her. Instead, the diary entries are presented as one chunk midway through the book and frankly, an angsty teenager isn’t the most interesting of narrators. Those two flaws combined to make this work shallower than I expected given some of her other work.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    An object lesson about how self-contentedness is more damaging to the self centered than the bystanders. At 19, the show business raised Carrie Fisher was oblivious to what her background might mean to her co-star and is totally caught up in what-does-he-think-of-me, without seemingly bothering to enter any relevant data. The diary portion is pure fugue based on emotions of insecurity, allowing not a breath for any possibility of insecurity in others. Lots of clever word/idea plays, and a feeling that as much as Carrie Fisher was, there was material for more.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    If you read this looking for witticisms about George Lucas and remembering being in the dumpster set, this isn't the right book (though there is a short bit where they were deciding what weird hairstyle Leia would wear, with the cinnamon buns being one of the less egregious versions).

    The Princess Diarist are musings over and excerpts from diary entries written during the filming of the first Star Wars film (though back then, it was the ONLY Star Wars). The big bombshell that made the rounds during book promotion last fall was that Carrie Fisher & Harrison Ford had a 3 month affair during filming, though the book is circumspect on specifics. Carrison is the heart of subject, though, and the diaries reveal a young woman on the cusp of adulthood grappling with feelings on relationships, love, and self-deprecation.

    The section after the (undated) diary entries are a bit of a postscript on it, 40 years later noting that the entries reflect how she saw Harrison then, not necessarily now, and then a chapter on post-SW fame and the "lapdance" of appearances, signings, etc.

    Fisher's writing is wry, with several unfortunately poignant jokes on the uptick in fame when celebrities pass. A quick read, but enjoyable. If you ever wrote angsty, sometimes overwrought journals rife with poetry as an adolescent, this will resonate with you.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Great book. Love Carrie Fishers sense of humor. Poignant in parts. Carrie was definitely a unique individual.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    More fun from Carrie Fisher about about her life and Star Wars.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Reading this book was bittersweet, as I got the feeling that Carrie Fisher would have been a delight to speak with at a hypothetical dinner table, but since writing this she has passed on, and in some parts a reader might feel the loss. Though the book seems to be marketed as a telling of her relationship with Harrison Ford, plus diary entries, it feels more like her life as someone who was never really outside the celebrity industry, so to speak. The relationship was part of that.While the substance of the book felt quite light to me, Fisher's narrative is a delight to read with her quirky humour and observations. Even towards the end her comments could catch me by surprise. I'm not a Star Wars junkie beyond a couple Lego sets and toy ships, but still enjoyed reading the book. I don't think one needs to really be a Star Wars fan at all to understand Fisher's book.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Listened to the audio book which began and ended with the incomparable voice of Carrie Fisher. The middle part was read by her daughter. I found the first section the best. Ended with the Harrison Ford dalliance during the making of Star Wars. The book was written based on the diaries that Carrie had started around the time of the filming of Star Wars. She was a high school dropout in the biggest role of her life, thrown to the wolves of the movie industry, strutting her stuff. Only Carrie could tell the story. The part read by Billie, her daughter, was a continuation of the story by reading the diaries and I missed Carrie's voice so much I couldn't concentrate on the story, except to note that it was very depressing. Carrie's voice picks up again for the last third. Thank you for sharing your life with us, Carrie. RIP.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I wish I'd read this while Carrie Fisher was still alive. Her death cast a bittersweet pall over the entire book. To be honest, I was less thrilled with the actual diary parts, having just gone through my own 19 year old musings in journal form, I just didn't need to do it twice. But Fisher's humor and view of the world was interesting to me, and how Leia shaped her life.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    The book, like Gaul, is divided into three parts. The first part is in Carrie's own voice, talking about her early family life, the movie Shampoo, the iconic hairstyle she will forever be remembered for, and her affair with Harrison Ford. And then her affair with Harrison. Yes, and her affair with Harrison--very repetitous, and boring to anyone out of high school.The middle section is her actual diary, read by Billie Lourd (her daughter?). In many ways it is elegant adolescent writing. It definitely took me back to my life-angst when I was 19-20 years old. I can't say I enjoyed revisiting that time, but I did enjoy Carrie's play on words and rhyming schemes.The third part began with, hello!, talking about Harrison, but then she moved on to mainly speak of fans and autographs. Oh, and a sentence about Paul Simon.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Hilarious and heartwarming stories of her filming of the Star Wars series.....and Harrison Ford.....insightful and fun, and very charming. Recommend.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    An interesting look into the time in Carrie's life when she was just starting out, and the weird people and situations she endured. Some unexpected, some more expected, but enjoyable nonetheless.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    (audio) This is Fisher's 2016 memoir of her time making Star Wars. It was prompted by her finding the diaries she kept during production. It was published shortly before her death.It is a no punches pulled, funny recollection of her life and beginnings of her career in the mid-70s, including revealing the details of her affair with Harrison Ford. Her daughter; Billy Lourd, read the diary pages, while Carrie narrated the modern day remembrances. A very poignant read, given her subsequent passing.Read by : Carrie Fisher/Billy Lourd9/10S: 1/29/18 - 2/1/18 (4 Days)
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Carrie and her book were doomed from the beginning. We were never going to be friends. I had/have a serious crush on Harrison Ford, so anyone who got to snog him is going to make me seriously jealous. On top of that, Carrie's storytelling is filled with way too many exclamation points and meanderings down story lines that might have been but never were. Why go there? Sure there is some humor and she does a good job of capturing her teenage insecurities, but I wanted less of the romance and more on the makings of Star Wars. I found it oddly depressing and didn't even finish. Eh.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I saw Star Wars when I was still in my teens and like many young lads, had a slight crush on Carrie Fisher, (along with Cheryl Ladd & Cheryl Tiegs). I recently seen the latest Star Wars film, Last Jedi, (Fisher's final film, before her death) and thought this would be a perfect time to visit this memoir.Fisher discovered her diary journals, that she kept during the filming of the original Star Wars film and decided to expand it into a book, about those innocent times. The big revelation is her affair with Harrison Ford, who was married at the time and fifteen years older than his young co-star.Fisher narrates the audio and this is the perfect way to enjoy this pleasant journey through her past.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I am not usually one to read celebrity memoirs. Mostly because I don't want to find out something I don't know and which then ruins my love of a favorite movie or book or celebrity. I don't need to know the inside story that badly. And Star Wars! I was ten when I saw the first movie in the theater, and I have loved it every since then, and it is a love I share with my own children. It's precious to me - I don't want it damaged or tarnished. So, I had already decided that I would not be reading this book - not because I didn't trust Carrie Fisher, but because I wanted to protect the memories I already have with these movies. Sounds silly, right? That's fine, I am completely comfortable marching to the beat of my own drummer. But then Carrie Fisher died, and that was staggering because she was one of the youngest cast members of the original movies. And they were just making more of these movies, telling more of the story...how sad. Anyway, after a few of my trusted friends here had read and reviewed the book, I decided to give it a chance, and I am so glad that I did. Fisher narrates the book herself, and she is fabulous - her personality, sense of humor and snarky comments all come through so brilliantly. And she is so great with impersonations! Her daughter, Billy Lourd, narrates the actual diary entries, which are in the middle of the book and comprise maybe one third of the total book. The diary entries were not at all what I was expecting. I was thinking dated entries with brief summaries about the filming or anecdotes about the process of making the movies. Instead what we get are lovely candid insights into a nineteen year old who is making her first big movie. There is poetry and humor and self doubt. There is a laying bare of the heart. And it is a perfect fit to have the daughter read the entries of her mother's younger self. I like that Fisher bookended the diary entries in between her own narrative of looking back to those days and of playing such an iconic and beloved character that would follow her the rest of her life, which sadly was not long enough. Fisher is snarky and irreverent and laugh out loud funny, but she is also gracious. Highly recommended, and a side note for audiobook listeners who, like me, like to increase the speed - you can listen to Fisher at 1.25x speed perfectly, but go back to the 1x speed for Lourd and the diary entries.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    34. The Princess Diarist (audio) by Carrie Fisher, read by the author and Billie Lourdpublished: 2016format: Overdrive digital audio, 5:13 (normally ~144 pages, but copies are ~270 pages)acquired: Librarylistened: Aug 10-17rating: 3Audio can make strange bedfellows with my other reading. This was a time-filler, an entertaining one, and, well... What's nice about this is Carrie reads it herself and you get sense of her personality both recently and then - when she was 19 and acting in some low budget space movie. What's interesting about it is that she talks about her odd affair with then-married Harrison Ford. And what's sad about it is that it was published in October 2016, in her voice, and she past away in December. Maybe there are other things sad about it too.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Around the time The Force Awakens began filming, Carrie Fisher wrote this book, reflecting on her four decades as Princess Leia. She'd found a few diaries she kept during production of the original Star Wars, and decided to spill the beans: she and Harrison Ford had had an affair. Interestingly, there isn't a whole lot to tell, and the other parts of the book are in fact far more interesting and entertaining. But I enjoyed it all, as usual. The only part that kind of dragged were the diaries themselves. Written by a 19-year-old, there's a lot of angst and introspection. The poetry isn't bad, but I'm not really a poetry person. Mostly it's kind of boring. The one thing I got out of it was an inkling of what a great writer she would become. Her wordplay is simply delightful. I admit I was a little sad listening to this, knowing there will never be any more. I guess my next step is to try out her fiction.A note on the audio: Fisher is fantastic. Oddly, there were parts where she sounded strikingly like David Sedaris. (This is not a bad thing. Just surprising.)
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Definitely not what I expected. Parts of this book were very engaging, but others part reflect how the life of a child of a celebrity and the life of a celebrity is NOT what society has led us to believe it is in reality. I vacillated between feeling sorry for and back to thinking OMG how crazy as I read about her Carrie and her life.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I wish I had read this before! It is hilarious and insightful. The late Carrie Fisher delivers in this book about her experiences being Princess Leia, the filming of the movies, her diaries, and her affair with Harrison Ford. She is not afraid to make fun of herself and the things she has done. She talks about being a celebrity and making fun of it. She looked inward at herself and shows how human she really was. I loved this book. Now, I must get the others and read them. I am going to miss her. Carrie Fisher, that is. Because as much as she is Princess Leia, she is first and foremost, Carrie Fisher.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A fun (for the reader, yes/no for Carrie Fisher) look back at Carrie Fisher's time on the set of Star Wars: A New Hope. Primarily her relationship with Harrison Ford (which takes up the bulk of the memoir). Some interesting dealings with post-Leia life, but sadly very little lead up to Episode 7 (The Force Awakens), and her reclaiming the role once more.

    Like I said, this was primarily a cathartic release for her, about being Leia and about her relationship with Harrison Ford (possibly a bit of bragging as well?). Another interesting look at Fisher's life and times, probably better than Shockaholic and Wishful Drinking, though the three make a very interesting conjoined trilogy.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This short memoir by Carrie Fisher was the perfect read for those who still can't quite believe the actress has passed away. Fun and funny, this was a great read for Star Wars fans and the audiobook has the added treat of being narrated by the author herself!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A fun listen. Carrie can get a little obsessive, and spend far far too long an a specific subject, but i enjoyed it. This coming from someone who only saw 2 Star Wars movies, and fell asleep in both. Fisher was a true original whose POV will make you smile.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I was very disappointed. I really liked other things of Fisher's -- Wishful Drinking, for example. She can be witty and insightful. The first third of the book talks about her early life (including a little bit of info on getting into Star Wars). Then she gets into the part about her relationship with Harrison Ford. Way too much teenage angst about relationships for me. I was once a teenage girl and didn't care to revisit it. The last 25 percent of the book is her insights about celebrity experiences, such as going to conventions (she calls it lap dancing). This was the one part of the book I found interesting and raised it from one star to two stars.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    In The Princess Diarist, Carrie Fisher looks back on the legacy of her most famous role shortly after reprising Princess Leia in The Force Awakens. Both funny and thoughtful, Fisher's writing continues to entertain and demonstrate why the woman behind the character remains significant. Fisher's largest revelation focuses on her affair with Harrison Ford, which she frames against being young in Hollywood. The middle of her book, and the largest section, reprints excerpts from the diary she kept while working on Star Wars. Fisher's passing shortly after the release of this book makes many of the passages all the more poignant. When she examines her legacy or how she thinks she'll be remembered, it's hard not to feel a tug at one's heartstrings. As her final written work, The Princess Diarist offers enjoyable proof that Fisher's legacy is secure.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    It was good to hear Fisher tell her story in her own voice. Audiobooks are an intriguing form of "immortality." Parts were a little tedious, and it was obvious that she planned to be with us longer than she got to be. In the end, though, all she really wanted to be was Carrie, and that was enough.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Carrie Fisher's latest memoir details a behind the scenes look of the first Star Wars film. Motivated by the recent discovery of the journals she wrote while filming Star Wars in the late 1970s, Fisher discusses her naive nineteen-year-old self: not yet famous (though with famous parents) and unprepared for the juggernaut that would become the Star Wars franchise. She also covers her now famous co-star, Harrison Ford, and their relationship during the three months of filming. Fisher presents excerpts from her discovered journals and ponders on her life and the fame and notoriety that playing Princess Leia has brought her.

    I am new to the Star Wars fandom, having only recently discovered the films myself in the past two years or so. My four-year-old daughters love them (and Leia), so I was intrigued by the idea of Fisher's memoir. While I like the films, I don't consider myself a fanatic by any stretch of the imagination. Still, I was interested in hearing some behind the scenes tidbits about filming. And Fisher starts out with such facts, explaining how an early scene was re-written due to the physical limitations of Peter Mayhew, who played Chewbacca. It's that sort of information that I find fascinating--and imagine other Star Wars fans would as well.

    And, I won't lie, I was also fascinated by Fisher's reported relationship with Harrison Ford, who is about 15 years her senior (and was married while they were filming). Her portrayal of Harrison in the book seems spot on and is actually quite humorous at times. Unfortunately, her actual detail of the relationship is scant at best, and we really don't get much insight into their romance. What we do get is a lot of particulars about Fisher's own insecurities about herself, her body, her acting, etc.

    She includes actual excerpts of the journals she found in the middle of the book, and I confess, I eventually started skimming them, because they were just agony to read. I can understand how they resonate from the perspective of a lovestruck teenager (because, truly, she was just that at the time), but so many years later, they just seem like a lot of bad poetry and ramblings that make no sense out of context. And beyond a few stories about Harrison, we really get nothing in the book that explains them, which is unfortunate, as Fisher seems witty and interesting (albeit insecure, but hey, so am I). I understand her angst from the journals, I really do, but I'm not honestly sure I wanted to read it in such form.

    Plus, after that section of the book, we move on to Fisher discussing her fans and how "being Leia" has affected her life. And, again, I get it: we all forget how no one expected Star Wars to be so big. You wouldn't at nineteen realize what you were getting into, and I'm sure this character has absorbed much of her identity. And maybe it was reading this on the heel of Anna Kendrick's memoir, but I can only take so much of celebrities complaining about their fame and lives. The second half of Fisher's book, basically, is her capturing "conversations" with awestruck fans explaining how much Leia and Star Wars meant to them. But, really, it's mocking them and illustrating how tiresome the "lap dance" (her words) of signing autographs and appearing at various conventions can be. But, you know, as she states, it's worth it for the money. You can't help but feel a little offended on the part of these devoted, crazy fans, and a little less sorry for Fisher, even if she was not included on merchandising shares for Star Wars.

    Sigh. Overall, I'm a bit conflicted on this one. Bits and pieces were very interesting. But I would have enjoyed hearing more about the actual set and her interactions with the other actors beyond Harrison Ford. While I also didn't mind hearing about Fisher's impressions of how Leia impacted her life, the fandom sections just rubbed me the wrong way. 2.5 stars.