Leonard

February 22, 2016
Shatner and Leonard Nimoy shared an off-screen relationship as deep, complex, and sometimes testy as their Star Trek characters Kirk and Spock, according to this fond elegy. Shatner is warmly effusive, calling Nimoy his only "real friend⦠to whom I could completely emotionally unburden myself," but there were rough patches: relations on the original Star Trek television series were marked by a rivalry that exploded into tantrums; friendship blossomed while they basked in adulation at Star Trek conventions, and when Nimoy, a recovering alcoholic, helped Shatner cope with his alcoholic wife's death. The friendship sputtered in its last years after a never-explained rift made Nimoy cut off contact. (Shatner's anguish over the rupture is palpable.) Nimoy is an interesting if aloof presence here; the most insightful chapters deal with the meticulous Method technique he used to craft the cerebral, soulfully alienated, nerve-pinching Vulcan, which played brilliantly against Shatner's intuitive, external, fist-fighting embodiment of Kirk. The book is also a fine portrait of the prosaic, unsentimental worldview of workaday actors. (Both men were astonished by the emotional fervor Trekkiesâincluding Martin Luther King Jr.âinvested in the show.) Amanuensis Fisher's engaging prose and Shatner's shrewd reflections and good humor make this a resonant retrospective of one of pop culture's great partnerships. Photos.

January 15, 2016
In the original Star Trek series, Mr. Spock's contemplative temperament was balanced by Capt. Kirk's emotive and physical nature. Now it's the captain's turn to reflect. It's hard to believe that an entertainment franchise consisting of five distinct TV series, 12 feature films, numerous comics and novels, an animated series, fanzines, conventions, and a huge worldwide fan base began with an underfunded TV series that only ran for three seasons (1966-1969) before being cancelled by the network for its unprofitability. This year marks the 50th year since the franchise's birth, and the crew of the Enterprise continues to go where no man has gone before. Though the fabled starship has had many actors at its helm, the original portrayals of Kirk and Spock remain iconic. Shatner (Shatner Rules, 2011, etc.), who will celebrate his 85th birthday in March, memorializes his esteemed co-star in a memoir that spans the half-century of the two actors' friendship and, with the input of others who knew Leonard Nimoy (1931-2015) well, beyond. From Nimoy's early years in Los Angeles scrounging for bit roles in TV to the late actor's charitable support of Zachary Quinto in his 2009 reprisal of the role of Spock, Shatner describes his friend as a serious artist who constantly honed his craft. Though the actors eventually formed a strong bond, Shatner humbly recalls bags of fan mail arriving in the first weeks of Star Trek's popularity and the jealousy that he felt that the most beloved character on the show was Spock. Fans will devour anecdotes surrounding the making of the series and its posthumous surge in popularity, but Shatner takes readers behind the nonemotive Vulcan visage to reveal the poet, photographer, devoted stage actor, recovering alcoholic, and formidable listener who was his friend. A fond remembrance of Leonard Nimoy by one who knew him like no other.

COPYRIGHT(2016) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from February 15, 2016

Fans of TV shows might wonder if the people who portray the characters are friends in real life. As Shatner explains in this biography of Leonard Nimoy, actors form close bonds when working together and swear their undying friendship when it's over but more likely never see one another again. That was not the case with Shatner and Nimoy, who starred in three seasons of cult favorite Star Trek as Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock respectively, though Shatner reveals that they were wary of each other at first. He tells stories about the show, such as Nimoy's creation of the iconic Vulcan salute and nerve pinch, yet also shares little-known personal information, such as Nimoy's alcoholism and the price of celebrity. However, the heart of this book is Shatner's description of their friendship that grew from the Star Trek movies and the Trekkie conventions they attended as a pair. Shatner discusses his own life and the parallels in Nimoy's, but he does not upstage his friend, rather giving him center stage with his usual Shatner self-deprecating humor. VERDICT Trekkies will want this for the insider stories from Captain Kirk himself, but fans of candid, emotion-filled biographies will adore this account because it's a treasure trove of information. [See Prepub Alert, 8/10/15.]--Rosellen Brewer, Sno-Isle Libs., Marysville, WA

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2016
Shatner, the legendary actor who brought Captain Kirk to life in Star Trek, pays tribute to his lifelong best friend, Leonard Nimoy, who portrayed the iconic Mr. Spock, in this memoir-biography hybrid. Both actors were born in 1931, and both surprised their religious Jewish families by deciding to pursue careers in acting. Nimoy established himself as a character actor, making a career out of playing villains until Star Trek's creator, Gene Roddenberry, remembering Nimoy from a guest spot in another show, handpicked him to play Mr. Spock, the taciturn half-Vulcan. Shatner is candid about the evolution of his friendship with Nimoy: they started out on set as colleagues who occasionally clashed, in part because Nimoy, rather than Shatner, became the breakout star on the show. After Star Trek was canceled in 1969, they went their separate ways, but fan conventions and six feature films brought them back together and forged a deep friendship between them. Touching on Nimoy's other pursuits, including his photography, poetry, writing, and directing, Shatner offers up a lovely and moving tribute to his beloved friend.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)