The Princess Diarist

From The Princess Diarist:

George Lucas held his auditions for Star Wars in an office on a lot in Hollywood. It was in one of those faux-Spanish cream-colored buildings from the thirties with dark orange-tiled roofs and black-iron-grated windows, lined with sidewalks in turn lined with trees pine trees, I think they were, the sort that shed their needles generously onto the street below and interrupted by parched patches of once-green lawns.
Everything was a little worse for the wear, but good things would happen in these buildings. Lives would be led, businesses would prosper, and men would attend meetings hopeful meetings, meetings where big plans were made and ideas were proposed. But of all the meetings that had ever been held in that particular office, none of them could compare in world impact with the casting calls for the Star Wars movie.
A plaque could be placed on the outside of this building that states, On this spot the Star Wars films conducted their casting sessions. In this building the actors and actresses entered and exited until only three remained. These three were the actors who ultimately played the lead parts of Han, Luke, and Leia.
I ve told the story of getting cast as Princess Leia many times before in interviews, on horseback, and in cardiac units so if you ve previously heard this story before, I apologize for requiring some of your coveted store of patience. I know how closely most of us tend to hold on to whatever cache of patience we ve managed to amass over a lifetime and I appreciate your squandering some of your cherished stash here.
 
George gave me the impression of being smaller than he was because he spoke so infrequently. I first encountered his all-but-silent presence at these auditions the first of which he held with the director Brian De Palma. Brian was casting his horror film Carrie, and they both required an actress between the age of eighteen and twenty-two. I was the right age at the right

Carrie Fisher was an author and actress best known for her role as Princess Leia in the Star Wars franchise. She appeared in countless other films, including Shampoo and When Harry Met Sally and wrote four bestselling novels: Surrender the Pink, Delusions of Grandma, The Best Awful, and Postcards from the Edge, as well as the memoirs Shockaholic and Wishful Drinking. She passed away in December 2016.

Praise for The Princess Diarist
People Magazine s Best Book of Fall 2016 

Fisher offers a thoughtful, sardonic meditation on the price of fame, cost-of-living adjustments included. J.D. Biersdorfer, The New York Times Book Review 

Characteristically frank and unflinching, funny and true...The Princess Diarist is about a woman s relationship with desire her own, and of others for her writ large, as large as Star Wars. Julianne Escobedo Shepherd, Jezebel.com 

In her funny and frequently touching new memoir The Princess Diarist, the iconic Star Wars actress and author reveals the diaries she kept as a 19-year-old starring in the blockbuster sci-fi film.... It s an eye-opener for fans, but it also shows a gifted writer even at a young age. There was a lot going on between Princess Leia s hair buns. Brian Truitt, USA Today

There s tremendous insight into the volatile heart of a young woman, seen through the eyes of her wiser, older self still seeking her place in the universe. Anthony Breznican, Entertainment Weekly
 
Are you a woman who s ever fallen for a man who might fit this description? With him love was easier done than said/instead of taking you to heart he would take you to bed/and you take what he has to offer lying down/you re getting more involved while he s still getting around. Yes? Read on...[The Princess Diarist] is a radical truth bomb. Julia Felsenthal, VOGUE.com

An unflinching, sometimes painful, sometimes hilarious look inside the mind of a 19-year-old actress in the throes of a Hollywood locationship. Meredith Woerner, Los Angeles Times

An unexpectedly emotional read. The Verge
 
Fisher [is] a force to be reckoned with, both on the page and in real life. Heather Havrilevsky, Bookforum

A frank, self-deprecating memoir...outspoken, honest commentary of what it's like to be Princess