Press Release
March 10, 2004
"Dancing Barefoot": Geek + Blogger + Actor = Author Wil Wheaton
Sebastopol, CA--Not all geeks are into sci-fi, and not all sci-fi fans are
geeks, but there's enough of a crossover to explain the appeal of Wil
Wheaton--self-proclaimed geek, blogger, and former ensign Wesley Crusher
on "Star Trek: The Next Generation." Even non-sci-fi fans have been drawn
to the candid, highly personal, and occasionally opinionated account of
his life that Wheaton offers on his blog at www.wilwheaton.net. The
reason? While it's true that in the grand scheme of things, the
reflections and musings of the typical blogger-geek-actor-turned-book-author
are not expected to be momentous, Wheaton writes with an honesty and
disarming humanity that resonates with geeks and non-geeks alike.
In his book Dancing Barefoot (O'Reilly, US $14.95), Wheaton offers a
collection of five short but true stories about life in the so-called
space age. Based on pieces first published in his blog, the stories in
Dancing Barefoot chronicle a teen TV star's journey to maturity and
self-acceptance. Far from the usual celebrity tell-all, the book is a
vivid account of one man's version of that universal story--the search for
self. If you've ever fallen in love, wondered what goes on behind the
scenes at a Star Trek convention, or thought hard about the meaning of
life, you'll find a kindred soul in the pages of Dancing Barefoot. In
the process of uncovering his true geek self, Wil Wheaton speaks to the
inner geek in all of us.
Like many authors, Wheaton hadn't considered writing a book until the idea
was suggested to him, and even then he resisted. As he explains, "I sort
of know Dan Perkins, who draws 'This Modern World.' I linked to one of his
brilliant comics on my web site, and he emailed me about it. We exchanged
several notes over a few months, and one day he said, 'You ought to write
a book about your experiences.'
"I never considered myself a writer, and told him that. Dan pointed out
that I'd been writing for my weblog almost daily. This fact sat in my
brain for a long time, and I did everything I could to ignore it." In
spite of his intentions, many visitors to his site encouraged Wheaton to
write a book, and the suggestion became harder to disregard. He finally
decided to collect a year's worth of blog entries from WWdN (Wil Wheaton
dot Net) and publish it. "I figured I'd sell ten, maybe even fifteen of
them at a Star Trek convention or something," says Wheaton.
"I cut and pasted the web site for a few days, and then wrote some behind
the scenes stuff to tie all the weblog ideas together, narrative-style,"
Wheaton recalls. "In my head, I heard some strange voice...it was like
Danny Stern's 'Wonder Years' VO meets the 'Behind the Music' guy.
"I worked on that for about a week, and I had about 50,000 words. I
realized that there was sort of a character arc in there, where 'Wil' went
on this quest to cast off Wesley Crusher and find out exactly who he was.
A few weeks later, I had several hundred thousand words, and it was
looking like a freakin' phone book. My friend Andrew said, 'Don't put all
your best work in your first book.' It was very good advice, and I cut out
a bunch of stories that I liked, but weren't central to the story. Those
stories became Dancing Barefoot."
The five stories in Dancing Barefoot are:
Houses in Motion--Memories fill the emptiness left within a childhood
home, and saying goodbye brings them to life.
Ready Or Not Here I Come--A game of hide-n-seek with the kids works as a
time machine, taking Wil on a tour of the hiding and seeking of years gone by.
Inferno--Two fifteen-year-olds pass in the night leaving behind pleasant
memories and a perfumed Car Wars Deluxe Edition Box Set.
We Close Our Eyes--A few beautiful moments spent dancing in the rain.
The Saga of SpongeBob VegasPants--A story of love, hate, laughter, and the
acceptance of all things Trek.
First self-published by Wheaton in May 2003, available only on the
Internet and in select independent bookstores, Dancing Barefoot quickly
sold out of its first run of 3,000. Wheaton's next, longer work, Just a
Geek will be released in early summer 2004.
Praise for Dancing Barefoot:
"I just put down Dancing Barefoot. Simply put, it was terrific. If you are
a fan of Wil's Weblog, WWdN, then you will love this book. It's only 117
pages from cover to cover, but it is definitely worth getting...I really
want to talk about the stories a lot more, but I think it would be cruel
to take away anyone's chance to read it for themselves. I give the weblog
4 spuds out of 4. Enjoy!"
--Mitch Malone, BananasOnToast.org, December 2003
http://www.bananasontoast.org/archives/2003_12.html
Further reviews can be found at:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/barefoot/reviews.html
Additional Resources:
Dancing Barefoot
Wil Wheaton
ISBN 0-596-00674-8, 115 pages, $14.95 US, $21.95 CA
order@oreilly.com
1-800-998-9938; 1-707-827-7000
About O'Reilly
O'Reilly Media spreads the knowledge of innovators through its books, online services, magazines, and conferences. Since 1978, O'Reilly Media has been a chronicler and catalyst of cutting-edge development, homing in on the technology trends that really matter and spurring their adoption by amplifying "faint signals" from the alpha geeks who are creating the future. An active participant in the technology community, the company has a long history of advocacy, meme-making, and evangelism.
Return to: O'Reilly Press Room
|
Recent Press Releases
Press Release Archive »
Resources
Press Contacts
Corporate
Sara Winge
800/998-9938 x7109
Media Relations - North America
Sara Peyton
800/998-9938 x7118
Media Relations - Germany
Corina Pahrmann
+49-221-973160-22
Media Relations - Japan
Kenji Watari
+81-3-3356-5227
Media Relations - United Kingdom
Josette Garcia
+44 (0)1252-721284
Media Relations - Conferences
Maureen Jennings
800/998-9938 x7083
|
