Up Till Now: The Autobiography by William Shatner, David Fisher
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Book Reviews of Up Till Now: The Autobiography
Book Review: Up Till Now, by Wm Shatner
Summary: 5 Stars
What can I say? Content isn't an issue. It is a book that I wanted to buy and it is nearly half price of one in Borders. I always check Amazon before I go to a retail book store.Book Review: Shatner is one really amazing guy in real life
Summary: 4 Stars
I enjoyed this book very much with its emphasis on his personal life (as opposed to the Star Trek Memories books he wrote back in the 90's which were slightly more just about the making of the ST:TOS TV show and films). As I read this book I noticed that very early on Shatner's life contained adventure (from the fighting bouts he was in as a young child to that publicized boat ride he and his mutual companions took from Canada to New York years later).
I also loved much of the photo section (concluding with a photo of Shatner with his current beautiful wife, Elizabeth).
He's just about as really amazing as his alterego Capt. Kirk!
Book Review: Up Till Now by William Shatner
Summary: 4 Stars
I liked this book a lot. Lots of detail and stories I never knew. I didn't realize Captain Kirk had done so much in his life. A Good Read !!Book Review: Jobbing actor
Summary: 3 Stars
First I must confess to being a bit of a Trekkie (or Trekker as some prefer to be called). So I loved the series and the books etc and thought Kirk was a great character and Shatner played him very well. Then as I crunched through the cast biographies (and, ahem, attended the odd convention) it became apparent that William Shatner was not well liked by his fellow cast members and this cast a bit of a shadow on him as an individual. But I watched some of his work, read some of his books and even the comic series Tek World, and formed the view that he had a massive ego but was also able to laugh at himself.... So before I picked up this book, I did have an opinion....
The book is a proper autobiography taking us from his youth to Boston Legal and the production of the latest Star Trek film (in which we know he does not appear). A true jobbing actor he does get over the philosophy of the need to work and even I was surprised how much `proper' acting he has done. He wisely resists the temptation to focus on Star Trek (he's done that in Star Trek Memories) so we dip into all of his work and his private life. He tells it in his own way, often going off piste and with a degree of forthright honesty. Much has been made of how entertaining and funny this book is, but I have to confess that while it held my interest and did a decent job, it was never more then `okay'.
Having said that, it is an interesting life view of the man, perhaps fewer anecdotes then I was expecting and I would have liked a few more amusing tales. This is a quick and easy read and you will be surprised how much of a varied career Shatner has had, but you do wonder at times if he has evolved into his own caricature, or he is very very clever at giving people exactly what they want.
Certainly, by the end of this I liked and understood him a little more.
Book Review: Terrible Sound Recording, Terrific Book
Summary: 2 Stars
Great Audiobook -- read other reviews as to why -- but the narration by Shatner is poorly recorded.
The sound engineer should have used a "Compressor-Limiter" device to boost the very, very soft passages a bit, and limit the spikes of loud words. Shatner, I suppose for effect, will start a sentence somewhat loud for emphasis, then fade quickly to almost a whisper, but very close to the microphone, so it is soft and very, very bassy (low frequency.) So for the entire audiobook CD, you must roll down the bass, boost the treble and keep a finger on your volume control, chasing the narration, trying to hear the soft passages, only to be blasted when Shatner starts another sentence!
I travel in my car very long distances, so audiobooks really make the miles roll by, but this was difficult to listen to -- Shatner also talks faster when he is talking slowly, so you may need to do a lot of rewinding to catch the soft passages.
I wish the recording engineers / audiobook producers would understand that many of us listen to audiobooks in a car, which while relatively quiet, is not like listening with headphones or in a acoustically perfect listening room.
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