Book Review - The Happiest Days of Our Lives by Wil Wheaton
Category Book Review Wil Wheaton The Happiest Days of Our Lives
A friend and colleague recently pinged me and asked if I had read Wil Wheaton's latest book, The Happiest Days of Our Lives. That one somehow got past my radar, as I enjoyed his first two books. To my pleasant surprise, I had an autographed copy waiting for me when I checked into a hotel at a conference I attended this last week. The Happiest Days is not a long book, but it's filled with the same type of writing that had me hooked with his earlier works. Wheaton is able to tell stories about his life that reach in and touch the reader in ways that very few writers can.
If you've been following his blog for an extended period of time, you might have read some of these stories already. But it's always a joy to have everything in one place where you can savor it all at once. Some of the stories, like The Big Goodbye, revolve around his life as Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation. He goes back to the studio to do a host wrap for a documentary, and shows how hard it is to revisit a place and time that doesn't exist any more. Other vignettes, like Blue Light Special, travel back to those childhood days when making decisions over Star Wars figures (or a Millennium Falcon!) are life-altering and fraught with indecision. And if you've ever lost a pet to illness and had to have them put down, I dare you to keep a dry eye while reading Let Go - A Requiem For Felix The Bear. Can't be done...
If you've read Wil's other two books, you know the writing style and eclectic selection of material you'll encounter. And nothing's changed... you'll feel right at home. If you haven't had the pleasure of reading Just A Geek or Dancing Barefoot, just relax and go where he takes you. When you're finished, you'll know him as more than just an actor, but as a real human being.
A friend and colleague recently pinged me and asked if I had read Wil Wheaton's latest book, The Happiest Days of Our Lives. That one somehow got past my radar, as I enjoyed his first two books. To my pleasant surprise, I had an autographed copy waiting for me when I checked into a hotel at a conference I attended this last week. The Happiest Days is not a long book, but it's filled with the same type of writing that had me hooked with his earlier works. Wheaton is able to tell stories about his life that reach in and touch the reader in ways that very few writers can.
If you've been following his blog for an extended period of time, you might have read some of these stories already. But it's always a joy to have everything in one place where you can savor it all at once. Some of the stories, like The Big Goodbye, revolve around his life as Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation. He goes back to the studio to do a host wrap for a documentary, and shows how hard it is to revisit a place and time that doesn't exist any more. Other vignettes, like Blue Light Special, travel back to those childhood days when making decisions over Star Wars figures (or a Millennium Falcon!) are life-altering and fraught with indecision. And if you've ever lost a pet to illness and had to have them put down, I dare you to keep a dry eye while reading Let Go - A Requiem For Felix The Bear. Can't be done...
If you've read Wil's other two books, you know the writing style and eclectic selection of material you'll encounter. And nothing's changed... you'll feel right at home. If you haven't had the pleasure of reading Just A Geek or Dancing Barefoot, just relax and go where he takes you. When you're finished, you'll know him as more than just an actor, but as a real human being.
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