"My emotional difficulties were exacerbated during the period following the death of my friend, Greg Stevens, whose name almost never appeared in print without the identifying phrase 'gay Republican political operative.' So why break tradition here? My gay republican politically operative friend had only recently died... sleeping next to me (though not, technically, with me--see 'gay') from a combination of OxyContin use and sleep apnea" (Fisher, 11).
~Carrie Fisher, Shockaholic
And so, Ms. Fisher takes us down the rabbit hole once more... starting with loosing custody of her daughter, Billie, due to a relapse using her gay republican political operative dead best friend's drug of choice, OxyContin. Then, Carrie goes onto explain her shocktastic new form of treatment, ECT (electroconvulsive therapy), which helps her when being "plagued by feelings of uncertainty and despair" (Fisher 4). Formerly known as shock treatment, the now less-evasive procedure involves being put to sleep for a few short moments, and after having slept off the electric current surging through your head, you wake up, and it feels as if somebody pressed the "mute button muffling the noise of [your] shrieking feelings," (Fisher 20). The piece Carrie's on, taking serious subject matter, such as addiction, depression, etc., and then, spinning it into a light-hearted, amusing tale of an iconic actress, who is telling these stories, not just for our benefit and entertainment, but her own as well, due to the side effect of memory loss associated with ECT. In her little, black book of who's who in Hollywood, Ms. Fisher drops names like Ted Kennedy, Elizabeth Taylor, and Michael Jackson, as if they are the paperboy next door, or that strange cat lady, with no husband, or cat food, but a lot of cats! Speaking of strange, and people who like cats, well I think it was the musical, but any who--Carrie Fisher made Hollywood history spending what would be his last... a very special Michael Jackson Christmas, but I am not sure if they got to film it at Chuck E Cheese, like Michael had originally hoped. I really did enjoy Carrie putting a celebrity-spin on Michael's obsession with children, which is that kids couldn't be corrupted by the magnitude of fame he radiated. Now, adults that's another ten million dollar story! The most endearing aspect of this memoir is Fisher's reconnection with her estranged father, Eddie, before he passed away. "To parent my parent was the pathway to [our] relationship," (Fisher 156). Overall, Shockaholic is a fun, bathroom of a read, a nice follow-up to her previous memoir, Wishful Drinking, and not a bad way to start the new year!
1/100
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