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title = "Just a Geek: Unflinchingly honest tales of the search for life, love, and fulfillment beyond the Starship Enterprise - Wil Wheaton"
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date = 2015-01-31
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[taxonomies]
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tags = ["books", "wil wheaton", "reviews", "geek", "star trek", "4 stars"]
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[GoodReads Summary](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/65692.Just_a_Geek):
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Wil Wheaton has never been one to take the conventional path to success.
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Despite early stardom through his childhood role in the motion picture "Stand
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By Me," and growing up on television as Wesley Crusher on "Star Trek: The
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Next Generation," Wil left Hollywood in pursuit of happiness, purpose, and a
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viable means of paying the bills. In the oddest of places, Topeka, Kansas,
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Wil discovered that despite his claims to fame, he was at heart "Just a
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Geek." In this bestselling book, Wil shares his deeply personal and difficult
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journey to find himself. You'll understand the rigors, and joys, of Wil's
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rediscovering of himself, as he comes to terms with what it means to be
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famous, or, ironically, famous for once having been famous. Writing with
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honesty and disarming humanity, Wil touches on the frustrations associated
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with his acting career, his inability to distance himself from Ensign Crusher
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in the public's eyes, the launch of his incredibly successful web site,
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wilwheaton.net, and the joy he's found in writing. Through all of this, Wil
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shares the ups and downs he encountered along the journey, along with the
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support and love he discovered from his friends and family. The stories in
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"Just a Geek" include: Wil's plunge from teen star to struggling actor,
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discovering the joys of HTML, blogging, Linux, and web design, the struggle
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between Wesley Crusher, Starfleet ensign, and Wil Wheaton, author and
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blogger, gut-wrenching reactions to the 9-11 disaster, moving tales of Wil's
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relationships with his wife, step-children, and extended family, and the
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transition from a B-list actor to an A-list author.
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<!-- more -->
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{{ stars(stars=4) }}
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Wil Wheaton is a weird character. Some of this acting I find bad, but some are
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incredible natural (compare his early Wesley Crusher acting with his late The
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Guild acting. Also, assorted Big Bang Theory episodes).
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On the other hand, writing seems to be his strongest point -- something that
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we reckons himself in this book.
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In "Just a Geek", Wheaton collects some of his blog posts from wilwheaton.net
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and tells the story behind them. In a way, it's the reverse of _Ghost Rider:
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Travels on the Healing Road_: Instead of telling what was happening with
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hidden emotions and then telling the truth in other media (in "Ghost Rider",
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it's Neil letters), here Wheaton sounds like everything is going fine in the
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blog posts -- at least, in the first ones -- and tells what was wrong in the
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book itself.
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I feel like an idiot describing this, because it sounds too much like some
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marketing/paid content, but the book goes from the child actor in Star Trek:
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The Next Generation era to his internet celebrity point (although it doesn't
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go into the internet-video era, with The Guild) and Wheaton admits all his
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errors and how he "found himself" (anyone who had to go through this road can
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related to his story).
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It's nice to read, even to get some idea behind TNG. It's direct, with Wheaton
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telling every time he got pissed with himself. And, in the end, it's a very
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well written book, although there is a lot of content coming from other
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sources.
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