Dancing Barefoot by Wil Wheaton

July 28, 2017     erinthebooknut     Book review

Dancing Barefoot by Wil WheatonDancing Barefoot by Wil Wheaton, Ben Claassen III
on January 1st 1970
Goodreads

Wil Wheaton - blogger, geek, and Star Trek: The Next Generation's Wesley Crusher - gives us five short-but-true tales of life in the so-called Space Age in Dancing Barefoot. With a true geek's unflinching honesty, Wil examines life, love, the web, and the absurdities of Hollywood in these compelling autobiographical narratives. Based on pieces first published in Wil's hugely popular blog, www.wilwheaton.net, the stories in Dancing Barefoot is a vivid account of one man's version of that universal story, the search for self. If you've ever fallen in love, wondered what goes on behind the scenes at a Star Trek convention, or thought hard about the meaning of life, you'll find a kindred soul in the pages of Dancing Barefoot. In the process of uncovering his true geeky self, Wil Wheaton speaks to the inner geek in all of us.

4.5 Nuts

I remember the days of watching Star Trek: The Next Generation reruns all afternoon on a weekend. I’m not quite old enough to remember the original airings but I remember the show nonetheless. I remember a dorky little nerd being the only kid on the Enterprise, being exactly where I wanted to be and doing all the things I wish I could do. That kid was Wil Wheaton. Fast forward many years later, Wil had popped up in a bunch of my favorite shows and movies and every time I was excited to see him. But now he had a reoccurring role on Big Bang Theory and his own board game show on youtube. So back I went into the Wil Wheaton fan club.

This book is a collection of essays and blog posts from WilWheaton.Net, Wil’s blog. Wil has always been a great writer, I eat up his posts like a favorite candy. Collected in this book are some of the best ones from his pre-Big Bang days.

I will tell you that the best way to read this book is actually to have it read to you by Wil himself in the form of the audiobook. Wil does a lot of audiobook narrating, already has the voice and the skill. So hearing his stories from his very own mouth is really the ideal way to experience this book. Only he can give you the exact tone needed for reach story.

True to life writing is something I will never have the skill to put on page the way Wil does. He makes regularly boring stories engaging and even fun to read. He makes no secret of his mental health issues or the problems he had as a young actor on Star Trek. I respect him so much for that. He’s a huge role model for me, in blogging and in life.

If you enjoy books like this I highly recommend his other book JUST A GEEK, his podcast Radio Free Burrito, his youtube show Tabletop, and the various audiobooks he narrates. Yeah I’m kid of a fangirl.

I recommend this book for fans of autobiography, Star Trek, pop culture nerds, and true to life essays/blog post formatted books.

What is you favorite Wil Wheaton thing? Mine is probably his show Tabletop. Share yours in the comments.

From my shelf to yours,

Erin

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