Up Till Now: The Autobiography

Up Till Now: The Autobiography
by William Shatner, David Fisher

Up Till Now: The Autobiography
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Book Summary Information

Author: David Fisher, William Shatner
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-05-13
ISBN: 0312372655
Number of pages: 358
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books

Book Reviews of Up Till Now: The Autobiography

Book Review: William F-ing Shatner!
Summary: 5 Stars

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.)

Summary of Up Till Now: The Autobiography

?It is now Bill Shatner?s universe---we just live in it.?---New York Daily News

After almost sixty years as an actor, William Shatner has become one of the most beloved entertainers in the world. And it seems as if Shatner is everywhere. Winning an Emmy for his role on Boston Legal. Doing commercials for Priceline.com. In the movie theaters. Singing with Ben Folds. He?s sitting next to Jay Leno and Jimmy Kimmel, and he?s practically a regular on Howard Stern?s show. He was recently honored with election to the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame. He was a target on a Comedy Central?s Celebrity Roast entitled ?The Shat Hits the Fan.? In Up Till Now, Shatner sits down with readers and offers the remarkable, full story of his life and explains how he got to be, well, everywhere.

It was the original Star Trek series, and later its films, that made Shatner instantly recognizable, called by name---or at least by Captain Kirk?s name---across the globe. But Shatner neither began nor has ended his career with that role. From the very start, he took his skills as an actor and put them to use wherever he could. He straddled the classic world of the theater and the new world of television, whether stepping in for Christopher Plummer in Shakespeare?s Henry V or staring at ?something on the wing? in a classic episode of The Twilight Zone. And since then, he?s gone on to star in numerous successful shows, such as T.J. Hooker, Rescue 911, and most recently Boston Legal.

William Shatner has always been willing to take risks for his art. What other actor would star in history?s first---and probably only---all-Esperanto-language film? Who else would share the screen with thousands of tarantulas, release an album called Has Been, or film a racially incendiary film in the Deep South during the height of the civil rights era? And who else would willingly paramotor into a field of waiting fans armed with paintball guns, all waiting for a chance to stun Captain?er, Shatner?

In this touching and very funny autobiography, William Shatner reveals the man behind these unforgettable moments, and how he?s become the worldwide star and experienced actor he is today.

           

 

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