Beam Me Up, Scotty: Star Trek's "Scotty" - In His Own Words

Rating:
Summary: Somewhat disappointing
Review: Several of the "Star Trek" actors have written autobiographies, and I've read most of them. I found "Beam Me Up, Scotty" to be somewhat disappointing. The book is quite short, and doesn't have as much Star Trek info as I would have liked. A little more humor would have helped too. William Shatner's books on Star Trek, although some have questioned their accuracy, are certainly much more entertaining to read.

Rating:
Summary: Somewhat disappointing
Review: Several of the "Star Trek" actors have written autobiographies, and I've read most of them. I found "Beam Me Up, Scotty" to be somewhat disappointing. The book is quite short, and doesn't have as much Star Trek info as I would have liked. A little more humor would have helped too. William Shatner's books on Star Trek, although some have questioned their accuracy, are certainly much more entertaining to read.

Rating:
Summary: This book is just like his "acting" -- terrible.
Review: The latest addition to the library of "Star Trek" cast memoirs is undeniably the worst. A more appropriate title would be "Unemployed Except for Star Trek." Were this account of bit parts and waiting for Godot (i.e., the Big Break) written with honesty, introspection, and wit, a story of a struggling, largely unsuccessful actor could make interesting reading. Unfortunately, Doohan seems oblivious to the fact that "Trek" was his Big Break; his lack of acting ability and his penchant for bad accents precluded his capitalizing on it. His acting was not good enough to transcend the stereotype and subsequent caricatures of him. Yet Doohan the Great Artiste berates us all for failing to recognize his theatrical genius. Throughout the book he sounds either like a spoiled brat or a pretentious video store clerk. And he needed a co-writer to do it! Sheesh. One would think that Jon Lovitz modeled his "Master Thespian" parody after Doohan -- this book is that bad. As a fan of the original "Trek," I feel this book insulted my intelligence.

Rating:
Summary: The worst autobiography I have ever read.
Review: When I read an autobiography or biography, not only would I expect a chronological series of the subject's life events, but I would also expect to gain insight into the author/subject's motivation, personal philosophy, hopes, dreams, etc. This book provides the former but not the latter. Doohan appears as an extremely arrogant and egotistical man with an inordinate sense of entitlement. Accepting no responsibility for anything he's ever done, he instead blames others, especially his ex-wives, William Shatner, and the "Hollywood mentality," for his misfortunes. Why Doohan feels he deserves to be worshipped is beyond me, or at least not described in the book. Doohan's attitude towards "Star Trek" is a prime example of this. He was an original cast member of inarguably the most successful TV franchise in history. (And he was nearly fired at that!) Through "ST" he has attained both millionaire and quasi-celebrity status. However, all he can do is complain about how this allegedly ruined his life. Any struggling actor would gladly exchange places with him! At the end he perfunctorily concedes that he *has* been successful, but in view of his book-length tirade, a few sentences do not sound convincing. I suppose I disliked this book so much because Doohan himself seems so throughly dislikeable. He provides no explanation as to why the reader should commiserate with him, or indeed repsect him at all. I wonder how he got the way he is. Perhaps I really don't want to know... I borrowed a friend's copy, so I'm glad I didn't actually spend money on this book. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Rating:
Summary: can't trust this guy
Review: You can't believe everything you read, and certainly not anything in this book. According to Jimmy, every director he's ever worked for thinks he's the greatest actor in history (question: if this is true why is he constantly unemployed and living off his (ex-)wives?) According to Jimmy, he is a devout Catholic (if this is true, how can he be thrice-divorced?) More oddities -- according to Jimmy, every woman (especially any woman who had ANYthing to do with Trek) he has ever met has fallen madly in love with him and begged him to sleep with her. (Yes, he's taken most of them up on it.) According to Jimmy, he single-handedly saved the Allies from the Nazis. Yeah, right. To those of you who LIKED this book, where were your brains when you read it? This book is only good as an exercise in shameless self-promotion.