LiterariLeigh

Here at the Erlanger branch of KCPL, we had a great summer reading kick off - Jedi style! There were people in costumes, trivia, crafts, displays, and showings of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. For anyone who doesn't know, Jedi was released May 25, 1983 which makes 2013 the 30th anniversary (and in case anyone is interested, I remember going to see it in the movie theater at least 5 times).

Wearing her now iconic slave girl metal bikini and looking fierce was Princess Leia. Feeling quite uncomfortable and trying to maintain some dignity was Carrie Fisher. Still best known for the Star Wars trilogy, Fisher is an accomplished actress and writer. Her novel Postcards from the Edge is fiction, but incorporates some of her real life, including her relationship with mother Debbie Reynolds. The book was also made into a funny and interesting film starring Meryl Streep and Shirley Maclaine.

More recently, Fisher wrote a memoir titled Wishful Drinking, based on her one woman stage show (which KCPL has on DVD). It does not recount her life so much as dish out information she wants to share with us about growing up, her mixed up family tree, electroshock therapy, drinking - all the stuff celebrities generally don't want you to know. It skips around but I found that I read it as a series of vignettes. When you are associated with something as huge and fan crazed as Star Wars, I think you have to decide if you're going to let it define who you are and resent it, or embrace it and throw away any regrets. Carrie Fisher opened her arms and her mouth and what comes out is pretty astounding.