Up Till Now: The Autobiography

This is a thick book but the reading went fast because of the author's writing style.

I appreciated his honesty and self-deprecation (a trait he is know for). He lays it all out, his upbringing, his romantic relationships, his relationships with the cast and crew of his various TV shows and movies. Because I dabbled in the Esperanto artificial language years ago, and own his Incubus movie (all done in Esperanto), I liked hearing the details about the making of that movie.

I'm always admire people who enjoy what they do and you can tell by his writing that he is definitely in that group! He has always wanted to be an actor and stuck to his guns. I was amazed by all the twists and turns that his career took. He really puts his all into his craft.

Above all, I think William Shatner is a master storyteller. There are many stories in the book, and that is the main reason the reading went so quick. I was actually disappointed when I was done - I wanted more stories!

I've been a huge Shatner fan for so many years so I knew I had to read this book. Let me start off by saying that Shatner has his fans and he has his critics. You might have people in group one that thinks he's a terrific actor and group 2 consists of the people that thinks he's a ham, can't act at all, he's an egomaniac, etc. I think both of these groups can at least agree on one thing: Shatner's been around for a long time. He's had/still has staying power. He easily could've been a flash in the pan but he has lasted for so long. He's a legendary icon.You gotta give him props on that.

I wish I could say that this book deserves 5 stars. Unfortunately I can't do that/say that. Truth of the matter is that he did a couple of things in this book that left me scratching my head. The advertising space was something that should've been left out or moved to the back of the book. I kinda got annoyed by the fact that I'm reading something interesting and the story pauses for him to plug his website/merchandise on website. I don't think I would've been as bothered if he'd had waited until the book was over and the last few pages showed pictures of some of the stuff you can find on his website. I wouldn't have been bothered. It makes me wonder why he chose that route to begin with? You have to admit it's a strange way of doing it. Advertise in the back and you'll still get people to maybe go to your site and purchase things. He'll make money. I'm not sure if it was some clever commentary on his part--you know how you're watching an interesting tv show or movie and you're on the edge of your seat and then whatever you're watching goes to commercial. You let out a groan and sit back down in your seat because you know it'll be 5 or 6 minutes before the action picks up again. He might've been thinking: "Okay, it won't take you 5 or 6 minutes to read my plug but I've got you hooked enough that you'll want to read the plug as fast as possible so you can pick back up reading the story." I'm just not sure.

Second thing I didn't like was the way he interrupted some of the stories. This is different from the advertising space issue. I prefer to read one story before jumping onto another story. I have to admit I got to the first part where he lists a lot of Star Trek memorabilia and I just thought it was ridiculous. It made me think of something that was popular when I was a kid. You've got white space on a page and somebody will write "I'm just writing this to take up space." And the person will write one word at a time for each line and add a word for the next line. Example: (Line 1) I'm. (Line 2) I'm just. (Line 3) I'm just writing. You get my point. It seemed bizarre to me. You're 77 years old and you've lived a long life and had a long career. You don't have to resort to filling your book up with mumbo jumbo in order to fill up space. I don't have ADD/ADHD but it drove me nuts when he'd interrupt a story to tell another story. Expect jumping around anytime you see (...) in the book.

I know it might seem like I have a lot of complaints. I apparently disliked the book to complain about anything at all. That's not true. I thought the book was very interesting and I don't regret reading it. I'll definitely skip the plugs the next time I read it though. I'll finish reading one story before turning back and reading the interruption story. I'd recommend this book to diehard Shatner fans. I don't think you're gonna be interested at all if you are a casual fan or you dislike him at all. I'd recommend checking it out through the library before buying it. Just a heads up on that. I don't want anybody regretting the fact they bought it.

One more thing: I kinda wish he had two sections for pictures. This book only has one section. The picture section looks nice. He chose some nice pictures to go along with the book. It just left me wanting more in that department.

I have to admit I haven't yet red this myself, but I feel like I have! I gave this book to my Grandfather and he would e-mail me passages from it that were absolutly hysterical. He loved the book and has been recomending it to everyone. He is a fan of Boston Legal and William Shatner is his favorite actor on the show, so I felt this would be something he would enjoy. He said he couldn't put it down!

I bought this book at the Borders down the way from William Shatner's offices in Studio City. When I got it home, I discovered it had been autographed. Compared the signature via the Net and discovered it was the real deal. Apparently, Shatner had snuck in and scribbled his John Hancock on the front page when nobody was looking. Just for you-know-whats-and-giggles, apparently.

Kind of sums up the man, or so it seems.

Shatner's one of those either-or types. You either love him or hate him so much it makes you nauseous. Me, I love the guy. One of my earliest memories, I mean highchair-and-bib memories, is seeing him up on the TV in his gold Star Trek shirt, standing next to Leonard Nimoy in his blue Star Trek shirt. A later memory, from junior high school, is watching T.J. HOOKER on some very powerful stomach-virus medication that was making me hallucinate my brains out. Left quite an impression.

This book did, too.

UP TILL NOW joins the small heap of tomes which have been written by or (at least partially) about Shatner, which include his STAR TREK MEMORIES and STAR TREK MOVIE MEMORIES. Unlike them, however, the book isn't Trek-centric, but covers Shat's entire life, from babyhood up to, well, now. And it's a pretty amazing life. This is a guy who came from nothing and, in the hopes of "making it as an actor, spent a dozen years eating fruit salad, wearing handmedown clothes, and running from low-paying gig to low-paying gig. Who established a reputation as one of the hardest-working actors on stage and screen while juggling the duties of husband (badly) and father (well). Who managed to rub elbows with the likes of Edward G. Robinson, Steve McQueen and Robert Redford without getting any of their burgeoning fame on his elbows...until he landed the part of James T. Kirk on Gene Roddenberry's "wagon train to the stars", STAR TREK.

The rest, as they say, is, well, most of the book. Billy boy is one of those rare people who doesn't seem to live life so much as ravage it. Lots of women. Multiple marriages, one of which ended tragically. Poverty and riches. A series of popular scifi novels. Commercial endorsements. Muscial collaborations with Ben Folds. Credits on stage, boob tube, silver screen, which when looked at in toto are sort of awe-inspiring. Three successful television series. Two (maybe three) Emmy awards. So on and so forth and such. If there's a guy out there whose motto is "I'll sleep when I'm dead" it's Bill Shatner.

I may be a fan of Shatner, but I'm not an idiot. Well. Not completely. What sold me on UP TILL NOW wasn't the backstory but its honesty. Most star-memiors are glossed so heavily with political correctness and diplomacy it's impossible to see through the glare to determine the substance, if any - which of course is the point. UTN, while not completely b.s.-free, is surprisingly forthright. Shatner dishes on his ego, his need to be in front of the camera, his workaholism, his womanizing, his musical projects (he's fiercely defiant about his notorious album, THE TRANSCENDENTAL MAN), his bad movies, his work on BOSTON LEGAL, on and on. Best of all, he finally lowers the boom, however briefly, on the TREK co-stars who've been slagging him for the last 40 years, as well as his true feelings about that other fellow we all know and mostly love - James T. Kirk.

Thanks for the autograph, Bill - and thanks for the memories.

(Except for T.J. Hooker telling Vince Romano: "Police work isn't black and white, kid - it's a thousand shades of gray." I coulda done without that.)

I like William Shatner. I think he is a funny guy. I was never a big Star Trek fan, I didn't get into Tek-War, and I have never shopped Price-Line. But, Shatner just makes me laugh. This book was a very interesting look into the personal life of a workaholic actor.

This book has its serious moments, it had its laugh out loud moments, It is just a well written, fun to read book. Highly recommended. (I can't stop putting in "Highly recommended", must be too many eBay auctions.)