Memories of the Future, by Wil Wheaton

Wil Wheaton is a truly funny man. Memories of the Future is an hilariously irreverent collection of reviews of the first thirteen episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation—a show on which the author starred. Being both an actor and a fan of the show as well as a writer himself, Wheaton brings a unique viewpoint to all aspects of the show that are evident through the constant humor.

While reviewing episode Where No One Has Gone Before, when a warp drive experiment gone awry causes the crew to experience hyper-realistic visions, Wheaton pens one of my favorite observations: “Not all the hallucinations are bad, though: one crew member is seen playing a violin with a classic string quartet, another is dancing a ballet, and Picard stops to have tea with his mother. Of course, the audience’s suspension of disbelief is tested when Troi and Dr. Crusher walk past male crew members and remain entirely clothed. Picard figures out that what they think becomes reality, and he orders everyone to go to general quarters and concentrate on the 1976 Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders having a pillowfight.” This is a perfect capsule of what Wheaton imparts: thoughtful observations on the writing, an understanding of what the fans watching are really thinking, and snarky humor.

I’d seen early forms of these reviews on Wheaton’s blog and still found myself laughing out loud more than once when reading. The more serious sections are also really interesting, especially when he discusses why Wesley Crusher (the character he played on the show) became so widely hated by the fan base. My only disappointment is that there is no schedule for Volume 2’s release so I don’t know how long I have to wait for the next batch!

First Sentence (From the Introduction):

In August 2006, Brad Hill, an editor at Weblogs, Inc., hired me to write humorous reviews of Star Trek: The Next Generation from my unique point of view as an actor and a fan of the show.

Just a Geek, by Wil Wheaton

My second geek book in a row, but this one was a much more pleasant experience! Where it took me a couple of weeks of effort to digest the dry prose of Leading Geeks, the dry wit found in Just a Geek was consumed in a couple of hours. This is the story of how a waning celebrity came to terms with himself and started his second career.

There are some great Star Trek anecdotes here, good vision into what happens behind the scenes at cons. He also talks about various auditions and acting gigs—an enlightening look at world that is completely foreign to me. In my favorite vignette he describes an amazingly harsh imaginary response to an insulting audition:

“I’ve been working my ass off to give you this performance, and even though I can tell that you’re not interested in me at all, I’m going to fucking do this, okay? ... So why don’t you all just lighten the fuck up, and respect the fact that I came in here to do this stupid song and dance for your noncreative asses?!”

Well, that’s not exactly true. I said something more like, “Oh. Well, thanks for seeing me,” and I walked out of the room.

Priceless stuff, and exactly the kind of diatribe I carry on in my own mind constantly but never have the balls to say. One of these days...

While most of the stories are related to Wheaton’s acting career, the writing takes center stage here. I enjoy Wheaton’s blog and was curious how his style would translate into a full-length book. Quite well, as it turns out, although a fair portion of the text comes directly from his online entries. He carries the narrative well, though, stitching the stories behind the blog together fairly seamlessly. To use an analogy, if the blog was a DVD, this book would be a commentary track. Unlike many commentaries, though, this one rocks!

First Sentence:

On a hot June afternoon in 2000, I joined my best friend Darin for lunch at one of our teenage haunts, Old Town Pasadena.