“It is now Bill Shatner’s universe---we just live in it.”---New York Daily News
After almost sixty years as an actor, William Shatner has become one of the most beloved entertainers in the world. And it seems as if Shatner is everywhere. Winning an Emmy for his role on Boston Legal. Doing commercials for Priceline.com. In the movie theaters. Singing with Ben Folds. He’s sitting next to Jay Leno and Jimmy Kimmel, and he’s practically a regular on Howard Stern’s show. He was recently honored with election to the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame. He was a target on a Comedy Central’s Celebrity Roast entitled “The Shat Hits the Fan.” In Up Till Now, Shatner sits down with readers and offers the remarkable, full story of his life and explains how he got to be, well, everywhere.
It was the original Star Trek series, and later its films, that made Shatner instantly recognizable, called by name---or at least by Captain Kirk’s name---across the globe. But Shatner neither began nor has ended his career with that role. From the very start, he took his skills as an actor and put them to use wherever he could. He straddled the classic world of the theater and the new world of television, whether stepping in for Christopher Plummer in Shakespeare’s Henry V or staring at “something on the wing” in a classic episode of The Twilight Zone. And since then, he’s gone on to star in numerous successful shows, such as T.J. Hooker, Rescue 911, and most recently Boston Legal.
William Shatner has always been willing to take risks for his art. What other actor would star in history’s first---and probably only---all-Esperanto-language film? Who else would share the screen with thousands of tarantulas, release an album called Has Been, or film a racially incendiary film in the Deep South during the height of the civil rights era? And who else would willingly paramotor into a field of waiting fans armed with paintball guns, all waiting for a chance to stun Captain…er, Shatner?
In this touching and very funny autobiography, William Shatner reveals the man behind these unforgettable moments, and how he’s become the worldwide star and experienced actor he is today.
Up Till Now: The Autobiography Reviews:
Absolutly perfect for any Shatner fan! 
2009-12-15 - I bought this as a birthday gift to my boyfriend, who had gotten me into 'Boston Legal' and all trhings Shatner. It was absolutly perfect! We listened to it in the car going to and from work for a little over a month and found ourselves finding excuses to go on long drives to get to listen to more of the discs. The best part of the audiobook is the fact that Shatner reads it himself, giving so much emotion to all the parts in his life... In the end, we were very entertained and still wanted more!
A GOOD HISTORY
2009-12-15 - This was a very easy and enjoyable book to read. Learned a lot about him that Entertainment does not cover and this is in his own words. A lot of good parts in book and some sad ones. Never new how the cast felt about him while doing star trek. I would give this a 8 out of 10. A MUST READ IF YOU EVEN KNOW WHO HE IS!
The Past, Worked 
2009-12-01 - I've always liked Shatner's portrayal of James T. Kirk; I remember as a kid being startled by one of his post-Trek guest roles, playing a nasty thug on an episode of Banacek -- and a line his character recounted from its imaginary past, "see stars?" I'm pretty sure I've never seen most of his other roles, or at least have never been familiar with them.
A book I read in the 1990s, "Captain Quirk", was also pretty nasty in spots, and a friend of mine borrowed it to read it back then, and never returned it. Just as well. It wasn't much above the level of the supermarket scandal sheets. I've had a similar reaction to perusals of various tell-all type screed from some of the other actors from the Star Trek cast.
Up Till Now has a meandering quality to it, a sort of out-of-sequence storytelling that is the main reason it works. The occasional absurd asides to call attention to Shatner's website, and other ware-hawking, contribute to that structure, and are usually not that annoying. There's just one that goes on far too long, but it was both easy to skip, and helps set up the very short asides which follow it.
I burst out laughing a number of different times, and it is apparent that considerable effort was made to lighten the load, but this a good memoir by a competent actor who has never held a day job in his life, and remains working in a key role in a hit series as he's literally pushing 80 (born in 1931, it sez here).
Considering that broadcast networks blow their budgets on making loads of useless pointless reality [sic] TV shows enjoyed by mouth-breathers everywhere -- and may yet make the series idea referenced on page 204 -- that is not a coincidence.
Bravo, Bill.
Shatner is one really amazing guy in real life
2009-10-01 - I enjoyed this book very much with its emphasis on his personal life (as opposed to the Star Trek Memories books he wrote back in the 90's which were slightly more just about the making of the ST:TOS TV show and films). As I read this book I noticed that very early on Shatner's life contained adventure (from the fighting bouts he was in as a young child to that publicized boat ride he and his mutual companions took from Canada to New York years later).
I also loved much of the photo section (concluding with a photo of Shatner with his current beautiful wife, Elizabeth).
He's just about as really amazing as his alterego Capt. Kirk!
Shatner deserves praise for a terrific book!
2009-09-23 - I am now a big Shatner fan. I have enjoyed his performances in everything I've seen him in from the early "Twilight Zones," "Star Treks," his movies and other television appearances, but this book puts the man on the map for me. It is a brilliant (touching and funny) autobiography.
