In his newest book, Shatner Rules, and in his previous (excellent) autobiography Up Till Now, William Shatner makes a distinction between his two personas, "Bill" and "William Shatner." Bill is a fairly normal, laid back guy who enjoys spending time with friends and family. "William Shatner" is a performer, and has become almost as much of a character as the many portrayed by the actor over the course of his career. "William Shatner" is always "on," a showboat who may be a bit too full of himself, but in an endearing way. You want "William Shatner" as a guest on your talk show. You want "Bill" as a guest for dinner.
If Up Till Now was written primarily in "Bill's" voice, Shatner Rules is primarily written in the voice of "William Shatner." Organized as a series of rules for life, Shatner Rules is essentially a collection of anecdotes detailing amusing events from Shatner's personal and professional life, and the lessons he's learned from them. The book should not be mistaken for a second volume of Shatner's memoirs, but, because the actor/singer(!?)/director/producer/author continues to be so prolific, it is a nice companion to that longer work, and does a nice job of catching us up on the various projects he's been involved in since Up Till Now's publication.
The book is frequently very funny, such as a chapter detailing a fan's theft of Shatner's underwear from a hotel room, or a meeting between the ultra liberal Henry Rollins and Rush Limbaugh at a Shatner hosted football party. There are some serious moments as well, as the death of Shatner's wife is briefly discussed, but for the most part the tone is light and amusing. I confess I get a perverse thrill out of the various "feuds" between Shatner and some of his former Star Trek cast members, and Shatner doesn't pull any punches here on that score, particularly concerning George Takei and his recent highly publicized wedding (to which Shatner was not invited), which Shatner suggests may have been something of a publicity stunt.
The first and most important of Shatner's Rules is "Say 'Yes'," a philosophy which has served him well in his career and life. Even decisions which may have at first seemed to be poor ones (his infamous and oft-mocked "The Transformed Man" album, for example) can lead to unexpected opportunities (a further musical collaboration with Ben Folds, leading to a famous series of commercials for Priceline, leading to David Kelley's casting Shatner in Boston Legal in one of the most highly praised and rewarded performances of his career). At eighty years of age (another oft-discussed topic in Shatner Rules), Shatner has accumulated a lot of experience and a lot of wisdom, and he shares some of it in this book. Reading Shatner Rules is a bit like sitting down with a beloved uncle, whose stories are often laugh out loud funny, and may contain a few valuable life lessons as well.
