Thinly cloaked
autobiographical novel by
Carrie Fisher published in 1987. She also wrote the screenplay for an audience-pleasing
film version, directed by Mike Nichols and released in 1990.
In the film, Meryl Streep plays the Fisher character, Suzanne Yale. She's an actress who's been struggling with drug and relationship problems. Upon leaving a rehabilitation clinic, her film company stipulates that she live with her mother, an aging star (and a drinker), whose shadow she's been trying to escape. Shirley MacLaine plays the mother, Doris Mann (Fisher's mom is Debby Reynolds). The story focuses on how the stormy mother-daughter relationship works... and doesn't work.
Streep's self-mocking performance and singing are marvelous. She was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar, and a song from the film was also nominated for an award. MacLaine sings here too, and has a great time with the domineering mother/former starlet role. The two leads have fabulous chemistry, which combined with wonderfully comic dialogue, is why the movie works so well. The supporting cast includes Dennis Quaid, Gene Hackman, Richard Dreyfuss, Rob Reiner, and Annette Bening.
Fisher is an extremely witty writer, and despite the drug recovery theme, both book and movie are very funny. The characterizations are dead-on, because Fisher lived this tale.