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Get a Life! (Star Trek) (Hardcover)

by William Shatner (Author)

4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (51 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
For years, William Shatner's attitude toward Star Trek conventions was strictly professional: he'd typically fly in the day of his appearance, go straight from the airport to the stage, and then leave as quickly as possible. But when he went on an extensive tour to promote Generations, he became "Ebenezer Scrooge on Christmas morning." Soon he was talking to fellow cast members, convention organizers, and the fans themselves, discovering how love of a science fiction show had helped create a tight-knit community.

In the course of this book, Shatner gives us a short history of Trek fandom, reveals the thinking behind Paramount's decision to kill off James T. Kirk, briefly explains the origins of the infamous Saturday Night Live sketch that gives the book its title, holds a seminar with the three other starship captains, and even takes lessons on the proper way to imitate Kirk from the master, Kevin Pollak, an actor/comedian. (Among the insights gained: those dramatic pauses in Kirk's speeches were the result of Shatner trying to remember his next line.) And there are plenty of jokes at the expense of Leonard Nimoy, as well as a few skewering Shatner. (The "elephant story" is a classic in itself. Once, when Shatner was on a photo safari in Africa, an elephant did number two on his head. He tells the story at cons, and the fans seem to love it, for some reason.) But the most touching segments of Get a Life! are Shatner's interviews with the fans, particularly those to whom the show and the fan community have given a social and emotional lifeline. Once you've read the conversations with the shy veterinary student who made friends by dressing his cats in Star Trek uniforms, or with a young woman whose severe emotional and sexual trauma had led to the development of multiple personalities that included three healing presences in the form of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy, you will never be able to make a Trekkie joke quite so readily again. --Ron Hogan

Product Description

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 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.

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.

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Product Details

Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Atria (May 1, 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0671021311
ISBN-13: 978-0671021313
Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds

Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (51 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #161,055 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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#6 in	Books > Arts & Photography > History & Criticism > Regional > Canadian
#13 in	Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > ( S ) > Shatner, William
#24 in	Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Historical > Canadian

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Citations (learn more)

18 books cite this book:

Captain's Blood (Star Trek) by William Shatner in Front Matter, and Back Matter
I'm Working on That: A Trek From Science Fiction to Science Fact (Star Trek) by William Shatner in Front Matter, and Back Matter
Captain's Peril (Star Trek) by William Shatner in Front Matter, and Back Matter
Textual Poachers: Television Fans and Participatory Culture (Studies in Culture and Communication) by Henry Jenkins on page 9, and page 10
I'm Working on That : A Trek From Science Fiction to Science Fact by William Shatner in Front Matter

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	49% buy the item featured on this page: Get a Life! (Star Trek) 4.5 out of 5 stars (51)
	18% buy Up Till Now: The Autobiography 4.4 out of 5 stars (66) $8.31
	16% buy Star Trek Memories 4.0 out of 5 stars (25) $10.19
	9% buy Mind Meld - Secrets Behind the Voyage of a Lifetime 4.4 out of 5 stars (25)

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Customer Reviews

51 Reviews

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

Average Customer Review

4.5 out of 5 stars (51 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Witty, funny, heartfelt!, June 21, 1999

By	R. Johnson "bonovox" (Sweet Home Chicago) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Wow! I sat down at a local bookstore waiting for my wife with "Get A Life" in my hands thinking I'd read a few pages to pass the time. 5 chapters later, my wife was waiting for me--I had to buy it and read the rest at home. This book makes me laugh out loud (aforementioned wife thinks I'm nuts). I'm happy to see that Mr. Shatner enjoys the love, affection, and Star Trek subculture which he had a hand in creating. His self-deprecating humor is funny and refreshing, his insights (and those he interviews) are heart-warming and dead-on. Kudos to Mr. Shatner!!!!! This book should be interesting to even "casual" Star Trek fans.

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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, Bill Shatner "get's it"!, May 22, 2000

By	Rabbi Yonassan Gershom (Minnesota, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

It took the death of James T. Kirk in Star Trek Generations for William Shatner to finally become -- oh no! -- a TREKKIE! In this candid and hilariously self-depreciating book, Shatner admits that, for all those years as a cast member, he had been totally clueless about what Trek fandom was all about. To find out, he dons a really tacky rubber alien mask in order to mingle anonymously with the crowd. (The book has photos of him wearing it -- I wonder how many fans will see them and think, "Oh no! I was standing right next to Bill and never even got his autograph!") When the undercover experiment is over, he has a new respect for what happens at a Trek convention. And when he asks the fans what to call the book, they suggest, "Get a Life!" So he did.

One of the funniest parts of the book is in the first chapter, where he describes going to a typical speaking engagement, from panic on the plane (this ex-starship captain hates flying!) to being met at the airport by an enthusiastic fan who invaribly can't find the car, then being driven at top speed to the convention, where he is smuggled in the back door past the smelly garbage dumpsters, through the hotel kitchen, then along the "secret" passageways used by the cleaning staff, to emerge backstage -- all choregraphed by security teams using codes like "The Eagle has landed" to try to keep his exact arrival time a secret from the crowd. Whew! No wonder he had to put on a mask to enter the real Trek universe! I, for one, am glad he did, because this is a very entertaining book.

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Funny book about facing reality, October 5, 2004

By	lordhoot "lordhoot" (Anchorage, Alaska USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

William Shatner's love hate relationship with the show that made him famous or notorious depending on his mood under went a strange metamorphic change that came ironically after his character was killed off in Generations movie (Star Trek VII).

Shatner's book tell that story of his changing attitude toward Star Trek, its fanatic fans and the phenomenon that the show created all over the world. Its well written, often filled with humor as he reflects on what he have learned since his changed of heart. It also a great book since it deal with coming to terms with his past and how it was all catching up to him. I think Shatner finally began to realized that no matter what he does for the rest of his life, he will always be connected with Star Trek, always be known as "Captain James T. Kirk of the Starship Enterprise" and that the way it will be long after he's dead and buried.

So with that in mind, this book comes recommended. Its story of William Shatner and not Star Trek in general. He writes on his experiences regarding the phenomenon he helped create over 37 years ago and how he think about it when he wrote the book. (I thought his impression on autographs was very interesting.)

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarity in Prose
I love this book. I have read it quite a few times and it never fails to make me laugh. Silly stories and interesting people set to the background of a popular sci-fi show. Read more

Published 8 months ago by Ed Nemo

5.0 out of 5 stars A Book That Knows How To Grab Attention And Doesn't Let Go
You can tell that a lot of research and time was put into making this book and it really shows because it is so hard to put down once it gets going. Read more

Published 20 months ago by GameraRocks

5.0 out of 5 stars SHAT-NER! SHAT-NER! SHAT-NER!!!
Funny, witty, creative, insightful, deep hearted, informative..etc. So many differnet terms you can use to describe this very enjoyable write up by the former Admiral Kirk... Read more

Published on March 21, 2007 by Ramsis Lion

5.0 out of 5 stars Why Is That Monster Asking These Questions?
The book title comes from a bit William Shatner performed on Saturday Night Live where he bellows out the line when the audience at a Star Trek convention gets a little.... Read more

Published on October 5, 2006 by Mr. Richard D. Coreno

4.0 out of 5 stars Self Deprecating Prose, Or An Apology?
This book is part biography & part the history of the "Star Trek" fans. Throughout you see Mr. Shatner as a driven & often anxious man who is in the pursuit of both critical &... Read more

Published on April 5, 2006 by Steve Guardala

4.0 out of 5 stars "This really is William Shatner, and I stink!"
The man who popularized the phrase, "Get a life!" writes a book to deal the dirt on those people for whom the expression most applies. Read more

Published on January 2, 2005 by Andrew McCaffrey

5.0 out of 5 stars Shatner is sci-fi god.
This book is not a vendeta against fans or fellow cast members, so if you expect him trashing star trek actors or us fans, this is not the book for you, youll want to read George... Read more

Published on May 17, 2004 by MR Ellinas

4.0 out of 5 stars Olive branch to Trek fans becomes a love letter
"Trust me, I know exactly how lucky I am... there's not a day that goes by where I don't look up into the heavens and say, 'Thank you. Read more

Published on February 18, 2004 by Eddie Konczal

4.0 out of 5 stars CAPTAIN KIRK WINS AGAIN
THIS IS ABOUT THE WORLD OF STAR TREK CONVENTIONS. BILL SHATNER DOES A FINE JOB DESCRIBING WHAT GOES IN THE WORLD OF STAR TREK AND IT'S FOLLOWERS. Read more

Published on July 27, 2003

1.0 out of 5 stars Self-Explanatory Title
As a Star Trek outsider, I purchased this book from my local library with the hope I would shortly become more knowledgeable of the Star Trek phenomenon and all its eccentric... Read more

Published on June 19, 2003 by garbageman

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