My Girls

June 4, 2018
Fisher, son of Hollywood legend Debbie Reynolds and younger brother of actress Carrie Fisher, offers a frequently hilarious and too often heartbreaking story of life with the women he called “my girls.” As a member of a troubled family who, in his sister’s phrasing, “wore our underwear on the outside of our clothes,” Fisher candidly portrays a lifetime of crises, beginning when his father, singer Eddie Fisher, left Reynolds for Elizabeth Taylor only weeks after Fisher’s birth. Reynolds’s next two husbands both gambled and stole from her, leaving her millions of dollars in debt. The peacemaker in the family, Fisher dealt with his sister’s mood swings, later diagnosed as symptoms of bipolar disorder, and with the incessant competition between mother and daughter. Even as Fisher carved out his own life, pursuing a career making television shows and documentaries and becoming a born-again Christian, his mother and sister’s needs dominated his life until their deaths in 2016, just one day apart. More than a Hollywood tell-all, Fisher’s memoir of a family’s love and endurance under trying and sometimes outrageous circumstances is a clear-eyed tribute to lives lived to the fullest.

Starred review from August 1, 2018

Fisher is the son of Debbie Reynolds, MGM's "Girl Next Door" during the Golden Age of Hollywood, and Eddie Fisher, one of the most successful singers of the 1950s, and also brother of Carrie Fisher, who made her mark as Princess Leia in Star Wars and later as a best-selling author. This memoir is special for two reasons: it's by the child of celebrities yet is not a payback tell-all, and it offers a quietly observant perspective of his mother's and sister's fame. Todd did not crave the spotlight, instead choosing a life behind the camera, giving him a unique vantage point from which to share these stories. It's all here: La Scandale--Eddie running off with Elizabeth Taylor; Debbie's financial woes; Carrie's bipolar issues and drug abuse; Carrie's unexpected death, with Debbie following 24 hours later; and much more. It's a fascinating account but also a love letter to a cherished mother and sister filled with never-before-seen photos. VERDICT A candid yet loving memoir about life with two megastars that will appeal to fans and film students alike.--Rosellen Brewer, Sno-Isle Libs., Marysville, WA

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2018
Memoirs written by the children of celebrities almost always make for fascinating reading, but when the author is both son and brother of two of Hollywood's most iconic stars, there is twice the potential for compelling storytelling. Fisher's mom, of course, was the multitalented Debbie Reynolds; his sister, actress and author Carrie Fisher (The Princess Diarist, 2016), achieved cult status as Princess Leia in Star Wars. When Debbie died less than a day after Carrie's sudden death, the world could hardly comprehend the loss of one legend, much less two. As the avowed caretaker and champion for both his mother and sister from the time he was a child, Fisher was fiercely protective of their lives and legacies. Recounting youthful high jinks with Carrie and the reversals of fortune that plagued Debbie's postfilm career, Fisher shares an intimate journey into the personal and professional challenges each woman faced in her own inimitable way. Poignant and joyous, genuine and reverential, Fisher's tribute to these larger-than-life creative ladies is a down-to-earth portrait of a loving mother and supportive sister.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)