The Encyclopedia Shatnerica An A to Z Guide to the Man and His Universe

A completely revised and updated edition of the 1998 book The Encyclopedia Shatnerica, this irreverent A-to-Z encyclopedia covers all aspects of the life and career of actor William Shatner.Why a revised edition? In the ten years since the publication of the original edition, William Shatner's mainstream popularity and cult status have skyrocketed. His Emmy-winning work on The Practice and Boston Legal, campy Priceline commercials, spoken-word "rock" albums, and increased exposure via such channels as TV Land and Comedy Central have only enhanced his hipster cachet as America's favourite bewigged, overacting pop-culture icon. And there's so much new material. Shatner is more active than ever-writing books, making commercials, recording albums, feuding with old Star Trek cast members, finding his wife drowned in his swimming pool, getting roasted on Comedy Central. Each of these episodes cries out for the kind of coverage given, in the old edition, to his kooky toupee, bulging waistline and checkered movie career. When the author wrote The Encyclopedia Shatnerica back in 1998, Netflix, TiVo and YouTube didn't exist. So he had to rely on memory, secondhand accounts or grainy pirated videos for such details as Shatner's Promise Margarine commercials, his old game-show appearances and his performance of Elton John's "Rocket Man" at the 1978 Science Fiction Film Awards. Today's online resources allow this new edition to go really in-depth and expand on the material in the first edition.

Robert Schnakenberg is a writer living in Brooklyn, New York.