Sunken Treasure
Confession: I didn’t know who Wil Wheaton was until about two years ago. After he was the keynote speaker at PAX 07 I was reading the accounts on Penny Arcade and I thought to myself, “who is this guy and why is he so supposed to be so awesome?” Every time he was in a PA comic he was wearing a shirt that said “Don’t be a dick,” so there was that, but it didn’t ring any bells. I found out he was on Star Trek TNG and while I was into that show as a kid, the only thing I really remember about it now is the series finale and the three different generations of NC-1701’s meeting each other — if you wondered about my geek cred, I just used NC-1701 in a sentence. Basically I could see that Wil Wheaton was some sort of super famous guy for reasons I couldn’t determine.
Wil reading Sunken Treasure (Flickr - MidgetMe)
Then I started reading his blog and following his Twitter. Wil Wheaton has a gift and it has nothing to do with acting. His gift involves keys and fingers, or maybe pen and paper — he might be roll old school, I don’t know. Wil Wheaton is an incredible writer. His blog is witty but poignant. His tweets are snarky and hilarious. It might be possible for Wil Wheaton to be famous thanks to all the Star Trek geeks out there who will worship him forever, but it’s his writing that really makes him special.
When I sat in on the Wil Wheaton Panel (how does one person make up a panel?) at PAX 08 I listened to him read selections of his writing. Evidently every year he puts together little books with excerpts of his writing, prints 200 at a small print shop and sells them to people. In his ‘panel’ Wil was reading out of the 2008 version. Six months later, that limited edition book is available to the world in the form of Sunken Treasure.
Wil refers to Sunken Treasure as an introduction to his writing. If his other books are anything like this one consider me sold. Wil talks of life, both as a child star and as a father. He talks about playing poker and makes fun of the show that endeared him in the hearts of millions. The excerpts are short and read quickly but all leave a smile on the face. They’re happy stories and reflections on life. They’re stories you can’t help but enjoy.
One thing that comes across loud and clear through all of Wil’s writing is that he’s not really famous after all. He’s a guy who likes to play video games, write stuff and act on occasion and he happens to make money doing it. It’s extremely evidently that Wil enjoys his life and all that it includes.
Whether you know who Wil Wheaton is or not, you’ll enjoy Sunken Treasure. If you don’t, you’re probably not human. You might even be an android. Data? Maybe.