I received “Dancing Barefoot“, the first book by Wil Wheaton in the mailbox today, apparently I got in on the first printing. Now, I rarely am able to read more than one book at a time, probably a remnant of some undiagnosed case of ADD, but after reading the first few pages of this book I set aside my current reading (Sklansky and Malmuth’s “Hold ’em Poker for Advanced Players”) and dove in. Here I am, a few hours later, very happy with my decision.

I was never a huge Star Trek fan. I’ve never been to a convention, I only own one of the films on DVD, and don’t even have a Trek season pass on my Tivo. But I watched TNG as a kid, and always thought Wesley was pretty cool. After reading this book, however, I realized that while I thought Wesley was cool, Wil is someone I would actually like to hang out with. His short “Houses in Motion” reminded me of the passing of my Grandmother (I think it was the artificial Christmas Tree that pushed me over the edge). Perhaps it was because I hadn’t ever had a good cry over the death of my grandma, but reading this story got me misty.

This is a great book, and a quick read too. I am looking forward to Wil’s “first” book, “Just a Geek”. While I wouldn’t advise Wil to give up acting, I would definitely encourage him to keep up with the writing, he seems to have genuine talent.