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 actor
Discovering the joys of HTML, blogging, Linux, and web design
The struggle between Wesley Crusher, Starfleet ensign, and Wil Wheaton, author and blogger
Gut-wrenching reactions to the 9-11 disaster
Moving tales of Wil's relationships with his wife, step-children, and extended family
The 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.
Excellent book, poor Kindle formattingSeptember 9, 2010 Tev Kaber The book itself is a good read. An insightful look into Wil Wheaton's (failing) struggle to maintain an acting career, and dealing with the self-doubt and regret over leaving Star Trek.
I won't say much about the book other than it's good, you should check it out.
What I'd like to talk more about is the Kindle version's publishing of the book.
I'd give the book 4 or 5 stars, but the formatting I would give 2 or 3.
I'm not going to punish Wil for his publisher's mistakes, though.
Something that annoys me is when publishers think making an ebook is just a matter of hitting "export" on whatever conversion tool they use. There is more to it, they need to actually take the time to proof the result.
There are two main issues with the Kindle version of "Just a Geek":
FORMATTING
A lot of the book is Wil quoting a blog post he did, and then following up with what he was really feeling when he wrote it, and the process of what he decided to share and not share with the public. But there is no visual separation in the Kindle version between the end of the blog post and the beginning of the commentary, so it's often difficult to figure out what's what. There are also typos and things that look like artifacts of the ebook exporting process than the original content (example: chapter heads like "April'S Fool" - where the publishers capitalization rule is bad and considers apostrophe the same as a space - even a cursory glance by a human proofreader would have caught "April'S").
IMAGES
Apparently there were nice illustrations that were omitted from the Kindle version. Take a look at Mary Roach's "Packing for Mars" - the Kindle is perfectly capable of supporting illustrations. Stripping out all graphics is the lazy way to convert a book to an ebook. I feel gypped out of some of the content when images are unceremoniously axed.
Right now, it seems many publishers just hit "save as ebook" without any sort of proofing process or pride in workmanship. It's shameful. What is needed is publishers who CARE about ebooks as a format, not just as a quick revenue stream.
Read his blog then decideJuly 8, 2010 C Abel(Oklahoma) I bought Just a Geek, Dancing Barefoot and Sunken Treasure and although they are fun reading I regret spending so much money for things he wrote in his blog. If you are a "real" Wil Wheaton fan then you must buy his books but if you just like the guy or you're curious about his life now then reading his blog will suffice.
Hopefully his bad opinion of W Shatner is just a joke otherwise Wheaton has a chip on his shoulder. Sour grapes much? Wil Wheaton could never equal Shatner's TV and film career if he worked until he was 90. That said I like to watch Wheaton's acting and will watch the programs he has recently filmed.
Touching and insightfulMay 19, 2010 Greg 452(Chicago, IL) 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I truly enjoyed Wil Wheaton's unwavering look at his life post Star Trek The Next Generation and how he eventually relearns to love trek and himself. There were many parts of the book that I found myself touched and close to heartbreak when Mr. Wheaton goes back and rereads parts of his blog only to realizes just how insecure he was.
A story about growth and accepting who you are and your past. My only critique is that there are large sections of the book are taken directly from his blog. I wish all the material was new; however, then you may not have had the insightful feel of the novel. Either way, a great read and definitely recommended.
Great for those who are new to Wil Wheaton and his blog!April 18, 2010 Christian D. Sorrell(Indianapolis, IN) I just finished reading this book. I devoured it in a little over 32 hours, front to back. I can't say cover to cover since I was reading it on my Kindle and in the e-world, there are no covers, only Zhul.
I'm new to Wil's website, his career today, and everything he's been up to his TNG. This book was a great way to get a sense of Wil has a person, see into his unique experiences as someone of middle-fame, get an awesome look at behind the scenes bits with the Star Trek crew, and catch up on a lot of the key moments in Wil's blogging career that I simply wasn't following him during.
Although from a craft standpoint the writing isn't amazing (lots of telling with only a hint of showing), Wil writes an honest memoir that is pure of heart, well-paced, and quite emotional.
A must-read for anyone interested in any of the many topics Wil has touched on throughout his career.
Great read - but numerous formatting issuesFebruary 6, 2010 H. Mackins III(San Francisco, CA USA) The prose is wonderful. The Kindle formatting leaves much to be desired, though: there are multiple typos, words overwritten on each other, cases of errant punctuation and so on. Particularly frustrating: the book is a collection of blog posts separated by editorial from the author. In the physical book, it's easy to discern where a blog post ends and the commentary begins. On the Kindle, it's quite challenging.
