Dancing Barefoot

Christopher Holland writes "If you've followed the recent phenomenon of blogging at all, you've probably run across the weblog (online journal) of Wil Wheaton at wilwheaton.net. Wheaton, best known to film fans as Wesley 'The Boy' Crusher from Star Trek: The Next Generation, has reinvented his public persona from oft-derided teen idol to a kind of affable head-geek. From his web site, the thirty-something actor and writer dispatches frequent updates about his working and personal life, his memories and thoughts on the Trek experience, and the technology that fascinates him and his geek brethren." Christopher reviews below Dancing Barefoot, the smaller of Wheaton's new books (the other will be out soon). Dancing Barefoot author Wil Wheaton pages 107 publisher Monolith Press rating 7 reviewer Christopher Holland ISBN 0974116009 summary Wil Wheaton holds forth on being a geek with a blog.

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.

Comments

Loved it - what else can I say.

[RavenDarkholme]

I was lucky enough to get a sneak peek at Dancing Barefoot as well. If you've read Wheaton's blog at all, you may be familiar with his funny, often self-deprecating, and above all, honest writing style. Sometimes, his blog entries are brief one-liners, but other times, they are quite courageous and emotional stories that really draw you in.

Even if you don't want to be drawn in.

Of course, I wasn't all that drawn in, you know, 'cause I'm a bad ass.

No, really.

And I didn't get choked up at ALL reading any of it, especially the one about his Aunt Val's house.

I did NOT.

Shut up.

Where was I? Oh yeah. Dancing Barefoot takes some stories that were previously on the blog, and adds to them, finishes them -- puts some more polish on the edges, and presents something that is incredibly human, touching, and even grand.

This book is worth reading just for the Saga of Spongebob VegasPants alone. Even if you're a long-time blog reader, I can almost guarantee there is some stuff you haven't seen yet.

Thoughtful writing

[Metropolitan]

I'm glad to see some of Wil's writing make it into print after having read his blog for so long. His style online, while not always what one would consider highly-polished (an asset, actually) is very heart-felt and honest.

Nice to see someone who had an early acting career not show up as one of those 'and they found him in his car, stoned out of his mind, with 17 sheep and a bottle of vodka' sorts of stories. Wil seems to be a decent guy, and I hope he succeeds enough with his writing to make that his profession, if he chooses.

Cheers, Uncle Wil.

What a comeback

[t1nman33]

I'm surprised that Wil hasn't been on "Where Are They Now?" on VH1. It's absolutely amazing how hardcore-trekkers reviled him in yesteryear, and everybody else essentially ignored him. And here he is, a Slashdot regular. You gotta take your hat off to the guy...not everybody gets a second chance.

Gene's feelings on the haters.

[CleverNickName]

I wonder how Gene reacted to the public irritation with his characterization of Mr. Crusher.

It hurt him a great deal.

Wesley was Gene's idealized self. Wesley was the kid that Gene couldn't be, and he hated it that the fans, who he loved, hated this character so much.

I remember once, we were at the same convention, and there was a group of fans chanting someting like "kill wesley" or "wesley sucks" or something equally intelligent.

Gene, who was about a thousand at the time, and not exactly spry, stormed up on the stage, grabbed the microphone, and said something along the lines of, "All you people just STFU! I make this show the way I want to! I don't make it for you, I make it for me, and if you don't like it, you can watch something else!"

There was a stunned silence, and then applause from the few majority of people who didn't share the opinion of the haters.

It was awesome.

I know that Gene respected and appreciated the fans, just like all of us do . . . but there's only so much a guy can take, you know?

Just read this thread at 1, and you'll get an inkling of about 1/10E6 of what I put up with for 15 years . . . and I was just an actor on the damn thing. I didn't even create it.

I know now, as a writer, that criticism of writing stings much worse than criticism of acting. The writing is much more personal, you know?

And thanks for setting the record straight on my history with TNG. :)