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Dancing Barefoot
After nearly two years of blogging, Wheaton compiled and edited an autobiography from his blog entitled Just a Geek, to be released in June 2003. Several of the stories which didn't fit into Geek have been collected in a smaller companion volume, Dancing Barefoot, which is now available from Wheaton's publishing company, Monolith Press (www.monolithpress.com). The legions of Trek fans who have rediscovered Wheaton as a guy much like themselves, as well as those weblog readers who enjoy Wil's humor but don't know the difference between trilithium and tribbles, will find Barefoot irresistable. Those with only a casual interest in Wheaton but familiar with Trek will find the book's showpiece, The Saga of Spongebob Vegas Pants, well worth reading. Wheaton's conversational, intimate writing style may even convince them to read the rest of the book. Cartoon illustrations provided by Ben A. Claassen III are an excellent complement to the casual essays.
Barefoot begins with four short pieces, essentially vignettes of days (or even moments) in the author's life. These range from the amusing (ruminations on teenaged lust and paths untaken) to the melancholy (Houses in Motion, a paean to Wheaton's deceased great aunt), and one needn't be told that they were culled from journal entries, because they very much read that way. The best is Houses -- although it sometimes ranges into maudlin territory, it is also the most courageous writing in the book. Wheaton's generation has been raised on a diet of pop culture and cynicism, and it's invigorating -- if somewhat startling -- to see someone of that generation openly expressing such feelings of devotion and despair.
The man who spent his formative years aboard the starship Enterprise departs from the short form for the final and most engrossing portion of the book, the aforementioned Spongebob Vegas Pants. It's the chronicle of a Star Trek convention held in Las Vegas, during which Wheaton tolerates the alternatingly ugly and kindly faces of fandom, but eventually rediscovers his enthusiasm for the Trek universe. Those who have attended such conventions will immediately recognize the fan archetypes, while those who have never been to such an event may decide that they never, ever want to. Fortunately, the story is less about the horrors of being a convention guest and more about the resolution of Wheaton's conflicted personal feelings about having been a part of the Trek phenomenon -- including his unpleasant run-ins with the original captain of the Enterprise, referred to repeatedly as William F---ing Shatner.
Certain sections of Dancing Barefoot could have used another turn under an editor's pen. Sponge Bob Vegas Pants, in particular, has a few passages that don't serve the story much, but as with the deleted scenes on a special edition DVD, some readers will be grateful for the extra material, regardless of how it affects the overall pace. Frequent atticisms will sustain the rest of the book's audience through the book's slower passages, though, and the author's humility is an effective antidote for the feeling that one might be about to read the memoirs of yet another self-indulgent celebrity blowhard -- which Mr. Wheaton certainly is not.
Given that the engaging Dancing Barefoot comprises the material that didn't make it into Just A Geek, it feels much like an appetizer to the larger work. Let's hope the main course is as tasty.
...just a clever book title.
I'm a writer, a poet, a genius, I know it. I don't buy software, I grow it.
I admit I didn't see all the episodes, but I don't remember seeing one where Wesley went around crushing boys.
"People that quote themselves in their signatures bother me" - athakur999
his unpleasant run-ins with the original captain of the Enterprise, referred to repeatedly as William F---ing Shatner
At least youknew his name Wil.
Quite the number of trolls out today. Considering that Wil has enjoyed a somewhat unique experience in one of the most loved TV franchises in the modern era you think people would be more inclined to post thoughtful replies.
Then again, I suspect the trolls are simply driven by a wracking, crushing feeling of sexual inadequacy.
THIS SPACE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK.
Looks like he'll be on fark again tonight...
yeh, he's been a huge presence in usenet for some time now....
maybe, we could get don lapre to write a book, too.
... hi bingo
Actually, this was a reference to his former pro-wrestling career, where his title was "Wesley, The Boy Crusher". It's a period that Wil would rather soon forget about, thank you very much.
Wesley stole the title of my favourite Patti Smith song. I was gonna use it myself.
It was in this movie script I've been working on which I'm not allowing anyone to see.
There's no emoticon for how I feel...
She's too busy fucking Picard to care.
Stop laughing.
Yeah, both of them.
All the reviewers will be on grass and all the reviews will be astroturf.
OMFG DANSIG BARFUT IS TEH FUTAR!!11
With a link to Amazon.
blarg.
...he says without a hint of irony, while posting on Slashdot about how valuable his time is...
I never thought many moons ago I would see someone on TV, and then talk to him many years later on this Internet thing.
.....
I felt like I upped my geek status at that point.
I have a saved email from Richard Stallman. The topic it was on is irrelevant to me now, but the fact that I corresponded with an uber geek and got a response other than the typical restraining order I usually receive is something that I wanted to record for posterity, so I have saved the email. Ah, the power of celebrity.
Accordingly, please mod this, and all my future posts, "-1 -- Fucking Loser."
Lots of petrified grits
Whoa, is that Dana Plato in the back seat?!?!...
No, seriously. I used to watch Star Trek: TNG occassionaly, even liked it a bit. But for the life of me, I can't remember anything about his character. Can someone refresh my memory?
All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.
I'd turn gay and marry him.
My Greasemonkey scripts for Digg &