Book of the Month - September 2023
Still Just a Geek
Will Wheaton - ISBN: 978-0063080478 - 2022
Author:
Wil Wheaton
Wil Wheaton is a highly acclaimed producer, narrator, and actor who has appeared in dozens of films and TV series. Most recently, he played a fictionalized version of himself on CBS's The Big Bang Theory, one of the most highly rated and watched sitcoms of the last decade. An accomplished voice actor, Wil has lent his talents to many animated series, including Family Guy, Teen Titans, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Batman: The Brave and the Bold. His audiobook narration of Ernest Cline's Ready Player One debuted at number one on the New York Times bestseller list and was one of Goodreads's 10 of the Best Narrator and Audiobook Pairings of All Time. He has also lent his voice to titles by John Scalzi, Randall Monroe, Andy Weir, and Joe Hill. When he isn't acting, narrating, or podcasting, Wil is writing. A lot. He lives in Los Angeles with his badass, irrepressible wife, Anne; one rescue dog (RIP Seamus); one cat; and two vintage arcade cabinets. If you're not a robot, you can reach him at wil@wilwheaton.net.
Brief Synopsis:
Celebrated actor, personality, and all-around nerd, Wil Wheaton updates his memoir of collected blog posts with all new material and annotations as he reexamines one of the most interesting lives in Hollywood and fandom--and now for the first time in audio, narrated by Wil himself!
From starring in Stand by Me to playing Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation to playing himself, in his second (third?) iconic role of Evil Wil Wheaton in The Big Bang Theory, to becoming a social media supernova, Wil Wheaton has charted a career course unlike anyone else and has emerged as one of the most popular and well-respected names in science fiction, fantasy, and pop culture.
Back in 2001, Wil began blogging on wilwheaton.net. Believing himself to have fallen victim to the curse of the child actor, Wil felt relegated to the convention circuit and didn’t expect many would want to read about his random experiences and personal philosophies.
Yet, much to his surprise, people were reading. He still blogs, and now has an enormous following on social media with well over 3 million followers.
In Still Just a Geek, Wil revisits his 2004 collection of blog posts, Just a Geek, filled with insightful and often laugh-out-loud annotated comments, additional later writings, and all new material written for this publication. The result is an incredibly raw and honest memoir, in which Wil opens up about his life, about falling in love, about coming to grips with his past work, choices, and family, and finding fulfillment in the new phases of his career. From his times on the Enterprise to his struggles with depression to his starting a family and finding his passion--writing--Wil Wheaton is someone whose life is both a cautionary tale and a story of finding one’s true purpose that should resonate with fans and aspiring artists alike.
Insights:
“Two other times in my life I have had revelations this consequential. I’m going to talk about them in more detail later, but they were: (1) accepting that I had a problem with alchohol and had to stop drinking, which let (2) my ability to finally accept that the man who was my father does not love me, abused me, and was enabled by my mother who gaslighted me about it.” - pg 70
“I want to go into even more detail here, just in case me from the past wasn’t clear enough. I spent all this time and energy blaming Star Trek for my unhappiness. I suspect that Star Trek was a safe vessel for all of that, because it couldn’t exactly argue back at me, the way the actual source of my unhappiness could and did.
I have already said, or I’m going to say soon, that I don’t believe in anything supernatural. At all. It’s all hokum that makes people feel better. That’s okay but it’s not real. So all of that said, I could easily write that the Universe (or God, or god), or John Titor, or some version of Wil from the future put this opportunity in front of me that night, and it said, “Hey, kid, I’m giving you something incredibly valuable. It’s a gift, and I hope you are able to accept it.” - pg 71
“I’ve been worried about her the whole time. But, with the whole acting thing, I’ve done a good job at hiding it. But time—it wears you down. And the erosion of my mask (along with the erosion of my cell battery) started to show my true state.” - on caring for his wife, Anne, during a health crisis - pg 238
“If geekdom is about connecting on a common thing—dissecting it and analyzing it and forever being facinated by it (for good or ill)—then living with depression and mental illness can feel familiar to us geeks…except we’re still trying to build that community into one where we’re able to gather and discuss and share our expriences in order to understand that commonality even better.’ - pg 365
Should I read it or skip it?
So, Happy Star Trek Day! Early… See my Star Trek post on Sept. 8th….
First, I feel the need to address the confusion of an Annotated Biography. This update of the Autobiography, Just A Geek, allows Mr. Wheaton to expand or update the areas where he as a person has grown past an opinion or may have rethought a premise. I love the concept and really appreciated how thoughts change. I am now 47 years old and my thoughts have changed over the the years. Mr. Wheaton is about 4 years older than I am. I was an eighth grader when Star Trek: The Next Generation started on television. I still love Star Trek but my views of the TV shows have grown and are much more nuanced than when I was in the eighth grade.
Second, I need to address the difference between the audiobook and the hard copy. Mr. Wheaton works hard to narrate the diffences between the original 2004 text, the new annotations, quotations, etc. However, my ear just couldn’t hear it. I ended up checking the book out from my local library. Once I could visually see the differences between his narration and the text, the audiobook became clearer. However, with a hard copy in hand, I ended up finishing the book with the hard copy.
So should you read it or skip it?
If you are a Star Trek Fan, read it. I loved hearing about stories on the set. I also feel like you should check out Mr. Wheaton’s work on The Ready Room on Paramount. He loves Star Trek and how he came to love Star Trek really shines through his writing. He also works through his acceptance of his role int he Star Trek Universe. As a young watcher, I couldn’t perceive the turmoil he must have faced within the Star Trek family. He was a young actor boldy going where I wished I could have gone. I didn’t see it for what it might have done to him or how he might have internalized hurts in the process.
If you have experienced signficant emotional or mental hurts, I think you will be able to appreciate Mr. Wheaton’s story and how he has overcome those moments of pain inflicted on him by anxiety, depression, and other people’s actions. These moments within the book gave me insight into his departure from Star Trek and his growth process. I think we owe him a debt for his vulnerability and his transparency.
If you are an aspiring actor, director, or writer, this book gives tons of insight into the creative process and how Mr. Wheaton’s voice was developed. He shares the hard times and the good times of being on set but also what it is like to come to a blank page and create. I found those insights valuable as an aspiring author and have used his insights to fuel my own process even I don’t always consider myself a creative.
Finally, unless you have a commitment in some way, you may find the 435 page book hard to get through. However, if you are willing to be open and transparent, you can find a vulnerable and transparent man who cares deeply for those who he loves and love him. He reignited my passion for writing and opened doors I didn’t expect into my thought process and how it was developed. In reflecting on his own life, Mr. Wheaton allowed me to reflect on my life (lived almost in the same time period). This book allowed me to accept that I am no longer the young leader but the person who takes responsiblity for the young leader (the honesty and openness about how he talks about his sons is amazing).
