He interrupts his autobiographical narrative with sudden humorous asides plugging his website. But amidst the humor-filled retelling of his experiences, from the numerous TV appearances he made in the 50's to the low-budget movies that preceded Star Trek's rebirth to hunting a bear with a bow and without a stuntman in sight to standing alone on an icy mountain peak, he writes of his marriages and touchingly shares the story and pain of the drowning death of his alcoholic wife, Nerine. He also recalls the moronic speculation about possible foul play which followed that raises its head whenever a celebrity dies, no matter what the facts.

To his credit, Shatner entertainingly talks as much of his experiences with TV Hooker, Rescue 911, Boston Legal, and his numerous TV appearances B.K. (Before Kirk) as he does about his space voyaging. He has, after all, written autobiographical accounts focusing solely on Star Trek before.

Of course, he does give attention to the role that made him a household name. There are numerous anecdotes like that of his convention appearances, his Saturday Night Live send-up, and the growing friendship with Leonard Nimoy that only began to take off long after the TV show was off the air.

Shatner discusses the impact of Star Trek and why it caught viewers' imagination and unfailing loyalty (many Trekkies, for example, have over the years admitted a feeling of betrayal over their liking for Babylon-5).

One of the strongest reason, I suspect, as others have pointed out, is that the show expressed a hopeful future. One of the best examples is an anecdote Shatner relates. The driver of a taxi he jumped into tells him about how when he was in a North Vietnamese prison camp, the caged and beaten prisoners got through their grim days by role-playing Star Trek episodes from memory, the prisoners switching roles daily.

The book is targeted towards the young adult crowd, so much of the book is spent examining the relationships of Meg Pryor. She must choose between her college boyfriend who wants to date other girls, or her brother's best friend, lost because is brother is MIA in Vietnam, a place where Meg's brother JJ will soon be headed. The book also covers a lot of fashion and family relationships as well.

While this particular story did not take place in the actual series run of the show, this book still explores all the best elements of the show. There are multiple references to all the stars of the time including the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, and of course there is an appearance by Bob Dylan, who is well connected with Roxanne's father's new girlfriend. And while there are very few appearances by the rest of the Pryor family, Meg does get herself into a few spots where only family can help.

At just under 200 pages, this is a very quick read, but is a book that is highly recommended to all youngsters who loved American Dreams or who just love to read about other teens from a different era. Pick it up for a beach read and you'll probably finish it in a couple of hours.