Just a Geek: Unflinchingly honest tales of the search for life, love, and fulfillment beyond the Starship Enterprise by Wil Wheaton, Neil Gaiman, John Kovalic Published by O'Reilly Media on June 29th 2004
Pages: 267
Goodreads
Wil Wheaton has never been one to take the conventional path to success. Despite early stardom through his childhood role in the motion picture "Stand By Me," and growing up on television as Wesley Crusher on "Star Trek: The Next Generation," Wil left Hollywood in pursuit of happiness, purpose, and a viable means of paying the bills. In the oddest of places, Topeka, Kansas, Wil discovered that despite his claims to fame, he was at heart "Just a Geek."In this bestselling book, Wil shares his deeply personal and difficult journey to find himself. You'll understand the rigors, and joys, of Wil's rediscovering of himself, as he comes to terms with what it means to be famous, or, ironically, famous for once having been famous. Writing with honesty and disarming humanity, Wil touches on the frustrations associated with his acting career, his inability to distance himself from Ensign Crusher in the public's eyes, the launch of his incredibly successful web site, wilwheaton.net, and the joy he's found in writing. Through all of this, Wil shares the ups and downs he encountered along the journey, along with the support and love he discovered from his friends and family.The stories in "Just a Geek" include: Wil's plunge from teen star to struggling actorDiscovering the joys of HTML, blogging, Linux, and web designThe struggle between Wesley Crusher, Starfleet ensign, and Wil Wheaton, author and bloggerGut-wrenching reactions to the 9-11 disasterMoving tales of Wil's relationships with his wife, step-children, and extended familyThe transition from a B-list actor to an A-list author
Wil Wheaton--celebrity, blogger, and geek--writes for the geek in all of us. Engaging, witty, and pleasantly self-deprecating, "Just a Geek" will surprise you and make you laugh.
4 Nuts
This is the last book in my mini Wheaton marathon. Only this time this book is actually written by Wil himself. JUST A GEEK is the second book in Wil’s essay book set in which he combines blog posts from WILWHEATON.NET with expanded essays talking about the stories.
This is probably my favorite form of memoir. I like the short form essay format rather than long drawn out life stories. The essay still emphasizes important events rather than an over all story arc which I prefer. Wil in particular excels at these non fiction essays. He’s an excellent short form story teller so the combination of his essays with his blog posts makes for a great read.
I’ve always loved how open Wil has been about his mental illness and struggles. Like me, Wil has depression and anxiety and he doesn’t hide that part of his life here. On the contrary, he shows how it impacted his life as an actor.
I can only imagine how much better this book would have been if read by Wil himself but I just got the ebook. His previous essay book, DANCING BAREFOOT was an excellent audiobook and Wil performs it wonderfully. Some of these stories as well as those in DANCING BAREFOOT I’m familiar with from Wil’s stage performances of them.
In fact a few of the stories in this book also show up in DANCING BAREFOOT. This is one of the few negatives I had about this book. I wanted more all new stories, not rehashes from his previous book. But still, they were worth a second read.
All in all this book is really for the big Wheaton fans out there. If you’ve read his blog you may be familiar with a lot of these stories. But he bares his soul here and its inspiring to see him coming into himself more and more with each story.
What’s your favorite celebrity book? Share yours in the comments.
From my shelf to yours,
Erin
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