STILL JUST A GEEK

A second effort at an autobiography, alternately rueful and funny, by the Star Trek: The Next Generation actor.

“You know who I would be if I had never left? Say it with me, my people: WILLIAM FUCKING SHATNER.” So wrote Wheaton in one of the “weblog”—“the cool kids call it a ‘blog,’ ” he was then compelled to explain—posts that made up his 2004 book Just a Geek. This revisitation is occasioned by second thoughts about various aspects of the privilege, homophobia, and insensitivity that marked him when he was in his 20s but now, at 48, rightly embarrass him. He writes of an encounter with pop star Billy Idol at adjacent urinals, for example, in which he tried not to look down to avert “getting all gay and weird.” He adds in a footnote, “Hey look at that! A little casual homophobia to go with the objectification, ableism, and other inexcusable, problematic behavior…I am better now, I promise.” Wheaton confesses to suffering from anxiety and clinical depression, but there’s more. He also recounts feeling rejected next to a “Golden Child” brother, having his childhood acting earnings embezzled by his parents, and other injuries. Alongside the apologies, though, comes a gimlet-eyed look at show business and the complacency that stardom, however minor, can sometimes yield. Though the author admits that it was a kind of career suicide to quit a hit show and try to get onto the big screen, it led him to some good things—including picking up a role as a “delightfully evil version” of both his Star Trek role and his actual self on the long-running TV series The Big Bang Theory. Assuming readers can track the ubiquitous footnotes, they will also find a winning portrait of the first stirrings of SF conventions and fellow actors (Leonard Nimoy was a hero).

Contrition accepted, a pleasure for Wheaton’s many fans.