Just a Geek

I am a huge fan of Wil Wheaton. Not from his Star Trek days, however, but from his boardgaming show on YouTube called Table Top. I jumped at the chance to read this to learn a bit more about him. Unfortunately, I didn't like the book as much as I had hoped. It wasn't a bad book in any way. It just wasn't great. According to GoodReads, 3 stars is "I liked it", which sums it up in a few words well.

What didn't I really like about it? Despite Wil's repeated claims to be a fantastic writer, none of his talent was on display here. The book is primarily blog posts (from over 10 years ago, when he admittedly was not a strong writer) with some newer commentary added in between. It is hard, I think, to show off strong writing skills in a biographical book like this - it's either full of errors or it's not. Had it been fiction, I think we'd get a far better taste of his self-proclaimed amazing prowess. EDIT: I just read an incredible blog post by Wil which really shows off his talent. Absolutely awesome: www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/4818010-with-an-aching-in-my-heart

Wil also repeatedly claims to be the best actor in numerous auditions, even though he was always passed over. I have seen him on Star Trek. He didn't seem like a gifted actor on that show, although he admits to "phoning it in" a lot and taking advantage of his fame when younger. As I read the book, I actually started to be torn between loving him for his work on Table Top and thinking he was delusional.

Wil complains more than once that he missed out on a particular job (on Win Ben Stein's Money) because they hired Jimmy Kimmel's cousin. He goes on and on about how this is unfair, yet he also complains numerous times that he was promised a role by his friend (who was the director), but they gave it, instead, to the person who was apparently a better fit. So Wil likes nepotism, but only when it favours him.

I'm horrified that Wil might actually read this one day. The one thing he did in his book that I loved was show complete honesty and raw vulnerability. He talks about how faceless trolls on the net made years of his life hell. I hate feeling that I'm contributing to that a bit, but I am trying to be honest. I think that his heart wasn't in acting. He feels that his heart is in writing, but I just can't see it - at least not given this material (I will check out the fiction that he was written). I am extremely glad for him (and the family which he supports - they sound awesome, by the way!) that he found Table Top, which is the perfect showcase for his magnetic personality. I'm glad I read this book, since I feel like I know him better than before. I would like to see the other books which followed this one.