Changes: Get a Life!

Revision as of 21:21, 10 December 2019

Real world article
(written from a Production point of view)

Get A Life! is an autobiography written by William Shatner, with Chris Kreski. Published by Atria, and first released in May 1999, it explores Shatner's relationship with the fans of Star Trek.

Summary

From the book jacket: Get A Life!, with the possible exception of "Beam me up, Scotty", is clearly the most repeated catchphrase in the history of Star Trek. Poking fun at Star Trek's gung-ho fans and conventions in a now-infamous Saturday Night Live sketch, William Shatner's comic rallying cry has been indelibly emblazoned into the collective psyche of trekkers everywhere. Through the years, the phrase has spurred laughter, anger, controversy, and far more than its fair share of debate. It's now also given birth to an honest, sentimental, insightful book.

Uncomfortable with speaking on stage, William Shatner had spent the better part of the previous quarter century steadfastly avoiding convention appearances. However, to publicize the release of Star Trek Generations, Shatner agreed to a rare series of speaking engagements at Star Trek conventions around the globe. He was jolted by an unavoidable dose of reality.

Shatner was met with wild enthusiasm, love, and good humor at convention after convention. Touched and fascinated, he was overwhelmed with the realization that in almost three decades of starship hopping, he'd never really taken the time to enjoy or understand Star Trek's fans or their conventions. That's when the light bulb clicked on; that's when "Captain Kirk" dove headfirst into action.

For the past several years, William Shatner has been treating each Star Trek convention like an enormous research project. Interviewing fans, dealers, fellow castmembers, convention organizers, and promoters – even going undercover beneath alien makeup – Shatner's been scouring convention floors. Having grilled trekkers and trekkies in all corners of the planet, Shatner's had his eyes opened and his mind boggled. He's amassed a small mountain of research material, and cultivated his findings in Get A Life!

This is a first-person journey of discovery told with self-deprecating wit, unflagging honesty, and his trademark enthusiasm and humor. Get a Life! tells William Shatner's own story of how the actor who played the now deceased starship captain, James T. Kirk, can finally come to grips with his past, his fans, their love, and his own intergalactic legacy.

Excerpts of copyrighted sources are included for review purposes only, without any intention of infringement.

Mea Culpa
The Backstories…
The Beginning
So Then What Happened?!
The Man in the Rubber Mask
Frequently Asked Convention Questions No. 1
One Man's Opinion: Bob Justman
One Fan's Opinion: Dan Madsen
The Speakers… The Classic Cast
The "Billings, Montana" Story
The Elephant Story
Frequently Asked Convention Questions No. 2
Captains Outrageous
One Dead Dax's Opinion: Terry Farrell
The Stuff
Frequently Asked Convention Questions No. 3
The Cyber-Frontier
Me and My Shadow
Planes, Trains, Automobiles… and Leonard
One Gorgeous Borg's Opinion: Jeri Ryan
One Fan's Opinion: Darryl Frazetti
Frequently Asked Convention Questions No. 4
The Pieces
Frequently Asked Convention Questions No. 5
The End

Previous biography:	Series	Next biography:
Star Trek Movie Memories	William Shatner biographies	Up Till Now: The Autobiography

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{real world}}
-{| class="wiki-sidebar"
+{{sidebar biography book
-|-
-| colspan="2"|[[Image:Get a Life.jpg|200px]]
+|image        = Get a Life.jpg
+|author       = [[William Shatner]] with [[Chris Kreski]]
-|-
+|publisher    = [[Atria]]
-| class="odd" | Author(s):
+|published    = {{d|1|May|1999}}
-| class="even" | [[William Shatner]] with [[Chris Kreski]]
+|pages        = 320
-|-
+|year         = 1990s
-| class="odd" | Pages:
+|ISBN         = 0671021311
-| class="even" | 320
+|AB abridged  = Yes
-|-
+|AB read by   = [[William Shatner]]
-| class="odd" | Publisher:
+|AB runtime   =
-| class="even" | [[Atria]]
+|AB publisher = [[Simon and Schuster Audioworks]]
-|-
+|AB published = {{d|1|May|1999}}
-| class="odd" | Reference #:
+|AB ISBN      = 0671044168
-| class="even" | ISBN 0671021311
-|}
+}}
+'''''Get A Life!''''' is an autobiography written by [[William Shatner]], with [[Chris Kreski]]. Published by [[Atria]], and first released in {{m|May|1999}}, it explores Shatner's relationship with the [[Trekkie|fans of ''Star Trek'']].
-==From the publisher==
-'''''Get A Life!''''' with the possible exception of "Beam me up, Scotty", is clearly the most repeated catchphrase in the history of [[Star Trek]]. Poking fun at [[Star Trek]]'s gung-ho fans and conventions in a now-infamous [[Star_Trek_parodies#.22Get_a_Life.21.22_Sketch|''Saturday Night Live'' sketch]], [[William Shatner]]'s comic rallying cry has been indelibly emblazoned into the collective psyche of [[Trekkies|trekkers]] everywhere. Through the years, the phrase has spurred laughter, anger, controversy, and far more than its fair share of debate. It's now also given birth to an honest, sentimental, insightful book.
+== Summary ==
-Uncomfortable with speaking onstage, '''William Shatner''' had spent the better part of the previous quarter century steadfastly avoiding convention appearances. However, to publicize the release of [[Star Trek: Generations]], Shatner agreed to a rare series of speaking engagements at '''Star Trek''' conventions around the globe. He was jolted by an unavoidable dose of reality.
+;From the book jacket
+:Get A Life!'', with the possible exception of "''Beam me up, Scotty''", is clearly the most repeated catchphrase in the history of ''[[Star Trek]]''. Poking fun at ''Star Trek''{{'}}s gung-ho fans and conventions in a now-infamous [[Saturday Night Live#"Get a Life!" Sketch|''Saturday Night Live'' sketch]], [[William Shatner]]'s comic rallying cry has been indelibly emblazoned into the collective psyche of [[Trekkie|trekkers]] everywhere. Through the years, the phrase has spurred laughter, anger, controversy, and far more than its fair share of debate. It's now also given birth to an honest, sentimental, insightful book.''
+:''Uncomfortable with speaking on stage, William Shatner had spent the better part of the previous quarter century steadfastly avoiding convention appearances. However, to publicize the release of {{film|7}}, Shatner agreed to a rare series of speaking engagements at ''Star Trek'' conventions around the globe. He was jolted by an unavoidable dose of reality.''
-Shatner was met with wild enthusiasm, love, and good humor at convention after convention. Touched and fascinated, he was overwhelmed with the realization that in almost three decades of starship hopping, he'd never really taken the time to enjoy or understand '''Star Trek''''s fans or their conventions. That's when the light bulb clicked on; that's when "Captain [[James T. Kirk|Kirk]]" dove headfirst into action.
+:''Shatner was met with wild enthusiasm, love, and good humor at convention after convention. Touched and fascinated, he was overwhelmed with the realization that in almost three decades of starship hopping, he'd never really taken the time to enjoy or understand ''Star Trek''{{'}}s fans or their conventions. That's when the light bulb clicked on; that's when "Captain [[James T. Kirk|Kirk]]" dove headfirst into action.''
-For the past several years, '''William Shatner''' has been treating each '''Star Trek''' convention like an enormous research project. Interviewing fans, dealers, fellow castmembers, convention organizers, and promoters -- even going undercover beneath alien makeup -- Shatner's been scouring convention floors. Having grilled trekkers and trekkies in all corners of the planet, Shatner's had his eyes opened and his mind boggled. He's amassed a small mountain of research material, and cultivated his findings in '''Get A Life!'''
+:''For the past several years, William Shatner has been treating each ''Star Trek'' convention like an enormous research project. Interviewing fans, dealers, fellow castmembers, convention organizers, and promoters &ndash; even going undercover beneath alien makeup &ndash; Shatner's been scouring convention floors. Having grilled trekkers and trekkies in all corners of the planet, Shatner's had his eyes opened and his mind boggled. He's amassed a small mountain of research material, and cultivated his findings in ''Get A Life!
-This is a first-person journey of discovery told with self-deprecating wit, unflagging honesty, and his trademark enthusiasm and humor. '''Get a Life!''' tells '''William Shatner''''s own story of how the actor who played the now deceased starship captain, [[James T. Kirk]], can finally come to grips with his past, his fans, their love, and his own intergalactic legacy.
+:''This is a first-person journey of discovery told with self-deprecating wit, unflagging honesty, and his trademark enthusiasm and humor. ''Get a Life!'' tells William Shatner's own story of how the actor who played the now deceased starship captain, James T. Kirk, can finally come to grips with his past, his fans, their love, and his own intergalactic legacy.''
 {{review}}
-==Contents==
+=== Contents ===
 *Mea Culpa
-*The Backstories...
+*The Backstories…
 *The Beginning
 *So Then What Happened?!
@@ Line 37: / Line 40: @@
 *One Man's Opinion: Bob Justman
 *One Fan's Opinion: Dan Madsen
-*The Speakers... The Classic Cast
+*The Speakers… The Classic Cast
 *The "Billings, Montana" Story
 *The Elephant Story
@@ Line 47: / Line 50: @@
 *The Cyber-Frontier
 *Me and My Shadow
-*Planes, Trains, Automobiles... and Leonard
+*Planes, Trains, Automobiles… and Leonard
 *One Gorgeous Borg's Opinion: Jeri Ryan
 *One Fan's Opinion: Darryl Frazetti
@@ Line 55: / Line 58: @@
 *The End
+{{simple nav
+|type        = biography
+|series      = [[William Shatner]] biographies
+|prev        = ''[[Star Trek Movie Memories]]''
+|next        = ''[[Up Till Now: The Autobiography]]''
+}}
+[[de: Get A Life!]]
-{{pna}}
 [[Category:Biography books]]
+[[Category:Audiobooks]]