Delusions of Grandma

Alternating between hauntingly introspective and hilariously irreverent, Carrie Fisher's Delusions of Grandma is about life, death, and the movie business. Semi-autobiographical in nature, Fisher writes with an honesty that will move you in one chapter and make you laugh in the next. She fills her prose with wordplay that entertains and gives insight into her characters.
The basic story focuses on Cora, a Hollywood script-doctor who, over the course of the story, falls in and out of love, helps a dying friend, discovers that she's pregnant by her ex, and helps her eccentric mother spring her grandfather from a nursing home. The vignette-style of the plot allows each of these events to have a beginning, middle, and end while the overall show more story moves along, adding a level of authenticity and a true-to-life quality to Fisher's writing. show less

When I first picked this up, I thought it was autobiographical and would be hilarious, like [book:Wishful Drinking|4961048]. I didn't know that I would read it once I realized it was a novel, so there is sat. Her recent, unfortunate passing prompted me to read it. It is funny, that does not surprise me. More impressive to me is that it is bold and daring - bringing in AIDS, senility, failed relationships, and the decision to handle an unexpected pregnancy... All of this springs from the hectic life of a career (script doctor) woman working through the dating scene. I recommend it to those that enjoy [book:The Actual One: How I Tried, and Failed, to Avoid Adulthood Forever|25110661].

I suppose it’s possible to write more thinly veiled reality as fiction, in theory. Even if I hadn’t always suspected her of writing about herself, a recent article on script doctors mentioned her as one of the most respected. Nor is one surprised to see Meryl Streep acknowledged as a friend when one knows that Meryl Streep played the Carrie role in Postcards From the Edge. It’s fun reading the acknowledgments when you know you’ll recognize some of the names and be able to attach them to characters. (Meryl I would guess became Joan, Bryan became Ray, Billie became Esme became Lily, and Debbie became Vivian). The thing that makes Fisher fun to read is not her plotting. There is no plotting in the traditional sense. It would seem show more that she takes several episodes from her life, changes the names and some of the characteristics, and the tries to make everything as witty as possible. Why not? Who among us does not wish to constantly rewrite our lives into something more amusing? We all want the chance to go back and put in the thing we should have said. She isn’t cruel about it. I don’t think her child’s father could find much to complain about in what she wrote about him. Even when she describes the way he dumped her she makes no effort to be mean about it. That’s part of what I like about her. She behaves largely like my friends, a little bit older, a different childhood, a life still revolving around Hollywood, but the kind of life where you don’t hate someone just because the relationship didn’t work out. The kind of life where you stay in touch with former lovers (at least some of them) and spend an awful lot of time talking everything over with friends. That’s one of the things I feel as though I’ve lost since I’ve moved up here. Far less time talking for the sake of talking. Everyone here has to be doing something. Croquet is about the least I can get them to agree to. It lets Ginny and Mike and David enjoys the thrill of competition while the rest of us laze around and chat.
A Carrie Fisher book is a conversation I’d like to having. The sort of kiwi (as she calls it) where you talk to someone every day and just pick up where you left off. A conversation where you don’t talk about the big things, everybody already knows about that, but about the smaller things. How it all makes you feel, what color it is, what the empty spaces feel like.
There are celebrities you want to sleep with, celebrities you want to have lunch with, and celebrities you want to be pals with. I’d love to be friends with Carrie Fisher. And reading her books I have the delightful experience of feeling that I am her friend show less

It's a fast read and enjoyable if you like word play and odd ball characters. It centers on Cora and her relationships with her friends and the father of her (unborn) child. Very simple but made fascinating through the quirkiness of the characters and their use of language.

A totally unremarkable book by Carrie Fisher that was a disappointment considering the positive reviews Fisher received for her writing. Indeed, the title Delusions of Grandma is the best part of the book.

The plot isn't much; mainly an opportunity to write about some famous (thinly disguised) friends, as a heavily pregnant writer pens letters to her unborn child.

An interesting book that gives details about the main character on a more concentrated level than others, and the wording of many phrases is definitely different. Still, not quite my cup of tea.

Not her best, but carrie is always fun to read.