The Best Awful: A Novel

Written by Carrie Fisher

Narrated by Carrie Fisher

This sequel to the bestselling Postcards from the Edge contains Carrie’s Fisher’s trademark intelligence and wit that brought Postcards to the Hollywood movie screen.

When we left Suzanne Vale at the end of Carrie Fisher’s bestselling Postcards from the Edge, she had survived drug abuse, rehab, and Hollywood celebrity. The Best Awful takes Suzanne back to the edge with a new set of troubles—not the least of which is that her studio executive husband turned out to be gay and has left her for a man.

Lonely for a man herself, Suzanne decides that her medication is cramping her style, and she goes off her meds—with disastrous results. The “manic” side of the illness convinces her it would be a good idea to get a tattoo, cut off her hair, and head to Mexico with a burly ex-con and a stash of OxyContin. As she wakes up in Tijuana, the “depressive” side kicks in, leading Suzanne through a series of surreal psychotic episodes before landing her in a mental hospital. With the help of her movie star mom, a circle of friends, and even her ex-husband, she begins the long journey back to sanity.

The Best Awful is by turns highly comic and darkly tragic, a roller-coaster ride through the dizzying highs and crushing lows of manic depression, delivered with fast and furious wit.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Jan 1, 2004
• ISBN: 9780743539180

Carrie Fisher

Carrie Fisher (1956–2016) became a cultural icon as Princess Leia in the first Star Wars trilogy. She starred in countless films, including Shampoo and When Harry Met Sally. She is the author of Shockaholic; Wishful Drinking (which became a hit Broadway production); and four bestselling novels, Surrender the Pink, Delusions of Grandma, The Best Awful, and Postcards from the Edge.

Reviews for The Best Awful

[Gabrielle Henery · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I liked it, if you have read one Fischer book you will find that it is a different version of the same stories if her life, but this was entertaining. She makes you laugh at the bad situations of her life.

[sixteendays · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I don't know if it was because I was miffed that she was just writing a memoir in the third person using different names, or that the characterization of Suzanne Vale reminded me too much of someone else in my life, but either way it made it extremely difficult to enjoy this book.

[qofd · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Quite enjoyed this look into the life of someone with a mental disorder.

[caanderson-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Carrie Fisher’s raw honestly and battles with mental illness is heartbreaking.

[sublunarie · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I don't know if it was because I was miffed that she was just writing a memoir in the third person using different names, or that the characterization of Suzanne Vale reminded me too much of someone else in my life, but either way it made it extremely difficult to enjoy this book.

[theboltchick · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I quite enjoyed this book. Carrie Fisher has a way of making the most unfunny things humorous.