putting the “weak” in weekly

Last week, Entertainment Weekly called my manager, and said that they were going to write announce Just A Geek in this week’s issue. I told my manager that I was concerned, because Entertainment Weekly has always written really cruel and misleading stories about me and my website, but the reporter assured him that this would just be a nice blurb announcing the release of my book.
Since the mainstream media have completely ignored me and Just A Geek, I was pretty excited that an influential magazine like Entertainment Weekly was going to give me a little ink.
That “nice blurb?” I just saw it on page 83:

“Whiner of the Week”
In his blog-cum-memoir Just a Geek, the former Star Trek, TNG cast member, now 32, fills 260 pages endlessly lamenting, “I used to be an actor when I was a kid.”

It’s pretty clear that the person hack who wrote this awful, mean-spirited, and misleading blurb didn’t read the entire book, because I DON’T spend 260 pages “lamenting I used to be an actor when I was a kid.” I spend the first chapter talking about those feelings, because it’s an important foundation for the rest of the story. A responsible journalist would know that.
It’s one thing to criticize the way I write, or opine that I spend too much time on one thing, and not enough time on another. That’s totally valid opinion . . . but to completely misrepresent me and the content of my book this way is despicable.
Someone at that magazine must have a vendetta against me, because Entertainment Weekly has tried very hard to portray me in a consistently negative light. When they reviewed WWdN about two years ago, they selectively quoted me out of context, and made me look really bad, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that they’re at it again, but it still hurts.

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384 thoughts on “putting the “weak” in weekly”

  1. Sorry to hear about the dissing review in Entertainment Weekly. I am still reading your book and I find it a great read. Keep up the good work with everything that you are doing here and in your life.

  2. Here’s my letter:
    Dear Editor-
    Did anybody on your staff actually read Wil Wheaton’s book JUST A GEEK? It’s clear to me that the “review” on pg. 83 was written by a person with no first-hand knowledge of the book or its contents. Wil’s book only deals with his struggles regarding his loss of fame in the first few pages (the few pages your reviewer apparently read), but spends much more time addressing his coming of age in a manner that is instantly relatable.
    My 12 year-old daughter often attempts to do her book reports by reading the first few pages of the assigned book and then projecting those few paragraphs she read onto the rest of the book, thereby guessing (yes, guessing) at the book’s true contents. It seems clear your reviewer took the same Jr. High shortcuts as my daughter. I urge to assign a writer who will do this wonderful book justice, and maybe even read the book (or is that too much to ask?). I hope you will rectify this egregious and seemingly vindictive review with a “real” review very soon.
    Sincerely,
    Chris G.
    San Dimas, CA

  3. Well, I for one don’t care what EW wrote. All I know is that my husband is in the next room intermittently laughing outloud while reading JAG; and darnit, he won’t give up the book long enough for me to read it!

  4. No worries, Wil. I’m not reading all the comments, so I’m sure this has been said, but Entertainment Weakly has *always* been mean spirited about everything. Granted, this is particularly harsh, but I stopped reading them a long time ago when I realised that every review I read pissed me off and caused me to lament the pitiful bastards who never made it big the way they wanted, got stuck at a shitty magazine, and try to fill every empty moment trying to convince themselves they know fuck-all about the creative endeavor. I especially loathe their movie reviewers who think they are film critics. You want to write criticism, you’re gonna need more than a page, let alone a fragment of a paragraph. I haven’t gotten it yet, but next to the final “Dark Tower” book, it’s the one I most look forward to reading before the end of the year.

  5. Sheesh — what a bunch of a–holes. They could have at least read the whole book and given it an honest review — but then, if they had done that, we wouldn’t be talking about Entertainment Weekly.
    Anyhow, they just made me that much more likely to by the book. Chuckleheads …

  7. It’s entirely their loss. They will look like idiots when you are written up time and time again for your excellent work in this book, and in your future books. They will be late to the game, and they will try to pass it off like they knew about your talent all along. The truth is, they have to sell what is sensationalism, and to them (this is Entertainment Weakly), you are your TV career and they can’t be bothered to learn anything more that requires more than fifteen minutes of their time. And you are probably right, somebody over there doesn’t like you — probably a ‘Wesley Crusher’ hater, if you ask me :).
    Let them fall behind your peripheral vision, Wil. You are better than that. Remember — never read your own press. Just keep doing what you do well, writing, observing life, and being an incredibly devoted husband and father. It sucks to have them shoot you down again, but only because you wanted to trust them. At the end of the day, they are nothing but another rag on the newstand.

  8. That sucks Wil.
    Looks to me like some reviewer still has some unresolved ‘anti-Wesley’ issues to deal with. Since ‘Wesley’ isn’t around, they continue to kick you.
    Glad I don’t subscribe.

  9. Okay I only read about half of the comments above so if somebody has already covered this, then I am seconding (or thirding or whatevering) you 🙂
    The reporter assured you that it was just going to be a “nice blurb announcing the release of your book” and then printed that? I’d like to see what they consider a bad review! Oh well, I doubt anybody will put much stock in the opinion of a guy whose decisions are based on what J.Lo is wearing.
    Like everybody else I say to just ignore this review. Obviously the reporter hasn’t read the whole book. I know it’s hard to just blow this off. You gave them the benefit of the doubt and they suckerpunched you, but think of it this way: If you let this review hurt you then they win.
    We can’t have that, now, can we?
    Keep your chin up. *Hugs* 🙂

  10. Honetsly, Wil does anyone actually read thoses magazines? I mean, when I read something negative in one of those publications, I actually think the OPPOSITE of the review and go out a seek those works which they rip on. As a dedicated WWDN reader I can say “they’ve got nothin!!!”

  11. Wil, this berk can say whatever (s)he pleases. It doesn’t change the truth.
    As I post this, there are over 200 people expressing the same sentiment:
    We know the truth. So do you, so does Anne, so do the boys. Pay attention to that.
    Lady’s grace, my friend.
    😉

  12. Personally, I think you are owed an apology. It’s one thing if this guy actually stated that ‘in his opinion, he hated the book because…’, but what he did was rude. I loved JAG. And I loved DB. I can’t wait to see what the future holds, where your writing is concerned. You seem to go along with the line ‘Treat people like you want to be treated’. You could have 49,999 people praise you, but all it takes is that 1 person to respond in the negative to bring you down. I know it’s hard, but just try to remember that your family and friends and fans don’t care about what this guy has to say.
    Sending you some genki o dasu mojo 🙂

  17. I’m so sorry to hear that. 🙁 Those little blurbs EW does that criticize celebrities are a way for the writers to get a cheap laugh out of the readers. They’re not worth getting angry at; don’t waste your energy on them. You’ve got better things to do.
    “Just a Geek” is a great book. It’s wonderfully written just like “Dancing Barefoot.” In fact, my boyfriend saw how highly I thought of DB that he bought JAG for me as a present before my vacation to visit family this past summer.
    Like everyone else who has posted, I know the truth about the richness of your book and your writings.

  18. Entertainment Weekly relies on people on both sides of the ‘famous’ equation (stars and star-watchers) believing that the most important thing is life is either being famous, or watching and opining about the famous. This cycle is what makes them money (and throws our cultural system out of whack.) For you to come out so intelligently against the cult of personality and finding success as a normal Joe rather than one of the famous, well, its ruins their whole paradigm. So, it’s no wonder they don’t like you so much…

  19. just ignore it, wil. you do something interesting, you are bound to get someone who attacks you over it – that’s just the way the media works.
    especially in non-quality publications, reviews are done by looking at/listening to the first few minutes or reading the first few pages, then mixing it with what the “journalist” knows about the authors background.
    and, like mentioned above, “teen actor still interesting as adult” doesn’t work as a headline. “whiney has-been writes memoirs” works, even if it’s an outright lie, like in this case.
    please don’t let it go to heart. i really love reading your blog, so do ten-thousands of others. i strongly doubt ew has even 10 readers who’d say the same about them 🙂 and i can’t wait to get my copy of jag.

  20. Remember what Oscar Wilde said, “The only thing worse than being talked about, is not being talked about.” Maybe someone will pick up the book because the hack put it up on the radar. Hell, that’s what happened with Ethan Hawke’s book. Everything I read about it when it came out said it was crap — that he should stick to acting. But everyone I talked to who read it, was very impressed. I’ll keep my fingers crossed, while I’m going out to buy my copy of Just A Geek.

  21. And the “Tall Poppy” syndrome strikes again…
    The petty dribbling of a wannabe can only hurt you if you let it. Concentrate on all the good things in life and eliminate the negative, life is way too short to let them drag you down.
    Best wishes to you and yours.
    Stacye

  22. Dear Editor,
    I’m a bit puzzled about your write-up on Wil Wheaton’s book, Just a Geek. I’ve been reading his blog where much of that material originated and I don’t think your copywriter is much of a reader of he would have commented about the book showing the humanity and evolution of a child celebrity becoming a husband, father, and a man.
    Your writers tend to mistake bitchy and catty comments for wit. They are not the same thing. You could learn some writing tips from Wheaton.
    And not to pick a nit, but even if it were true that Wheaton spent 260 pages with lamenting, that wouldn’t quite qualify as “endless” now would it? Your animus against Wheaton, however does seem quite endless. Did he run over your dog or screw your mom?
    Sincerely,
    Brian C. Bock
    Los Angeles

  24. Here was my letter to EW….
    Hi
    I just noticed your little blurb regarding Wil Wheaton’s book “Just a Geek”. For a moment I was troubled that you would slight Mr. Wheaton’s efforts as “whining” so casually. Wil Wheaton has come a long way since playing Wesley Crusher and many of us enjoy his remarks about life and fame. You could even say that I was actually becoming angry at this insult until I realized one very important thing that put the entire issue in perspective, at least for me.
    Entertainment Weekly is a publication that one should line their kitty litter box with rather than read. Your vapid and meaningless “insight” into the world of entertainment is fit only for mongoloids and medical patients who have recently received heavy electroshock therapy. You make People Magazine look like the Mensa society newsletter.
    But, in all fairness, you do serve one purpose. In the great swimming arena of culture someone does need to mind the kiddie pool. You do that exceptionally well.
    Sean Wardwell
    San Marcos, TX

  25. I read this blog entry in disbelief.
    I am going to totally come out of the closet here. I don’t think I have ever actually seen an episode of star trek start to finish and definitely not one with you in it, Wil (please don’t kill me, other people) . I have seen some of your movies, but not for ages, since I was a about 14 (i’m 22). But I stumbled onto the site by accident one day and 18 months later I am regular dedicated reader, because I really like your writing and think you are very funny, and because I absolutely love how well you express the many highs and lows of life as an actor (which I was once too, and which my whole family are). This quote:
    The worst thing about being an actor is not working. The second worst thing about being an actor is knowing that your whole life could turn around in a second, with one phone call. No wonder so many of us end up dead, or in a cult.
    Wil wheaton
    is written up in my room, and i have sent it to many, many friends and family members who are actors, who all love it because it is such a TRUE comment. And because being able to laugh about it makes us all feel better.
    It takes a lot of guts for an actor to actually ADMIT how crap it feels when you dont work, how many times they have been rejected, how painful and agonising and horrible the whole process is. People tend to gloss over it and lie and fake and pretend they are ‘about to work’ or ‘shortlisted’ or whatever. You are one of the only actors i know of who has had the guts to actually BE HONEST about how they are feeling about it all, and how their careers really is.
    Anyway, while some of us only have the guts to admit it to our boyfriend or our dog, you admit it to the whole world . AND THEN – and this is what even those who admit it would find hard to do – YOU MAKE IT FUNNY. The scene at the audition with Sean Astin? I laughed so hard while reading it on public transportation I got weird looks. And how you contrasted the ‘reality’ with what you wrote in the blog? so so so so painfully honest I was wincing!
    I guess this is why the entertanment weekly thing is so weird – because your feelings about life as an actor – or how life ‘used to be’ as opposed to how it is now…they are what makes the book so compelling for me.
    anyway, I dont know if you have time to read these comments anymore, but if you do, please know that I came to this site not as a fan or with any kind of weird ‘star trek’ baggage but really just out of interest and now I own both your books and I am the proudest monkey ever.

  26. Man i’m pissed. It feels like someone has attacked a good and dear friend and there is nothing i can do about it because i live in The Netherlands.
    But, who is the “whiner” ? I think that the man who wrote that blurb is the biggest f*cking whiner, wanker and a true A-HOLE !
    This is so F’d up. I feel sorry for you Wil, you dit not deserve this (again sorry for my bad gramma, englisch is not my native tongue)
    I have finished JAG and DB 2 weeks ago and i love your work.
    Lots of love and warm greetings from, just a guy in The Netherlands.
    Leon,
    rock on \m/

  27. Such BULLSHIT!
    I’ve cancelled my subscription.
    I’m writing a letter and sending an email.
    I’M SENDING BACK THE ISSUES I STILL HAVE!!!
    If you can spare the postage, Everyone, send any copies you may have back to their “Editor”, too!
    It’ll be our protest to their lack of integrity. If fans can successfully do letter writing campaigns to save their favorite shows, or send thousands of bottles of Tabasco, like the fans of Roswell did… then shall we send back our issues of their rag??? [won’t send my copies of DB or JAG… they’re books I’m PROUD to own, read, and recommend shamelessly!
    Is “Premiere” magazine owned by TimeWarner, too? If not, everyone switch to them outta spite. And send a copy of your paid invoice to Ent. Weakly to show ’em where your money’s going.
    So pissed… man… BASTARDS.
    ——
    Wil… you’re Good People. Good People with TALENT! We all know it… your loved ones know it. Never forget it.
    Critics… they’re just jealous. He’s jealous that he can’t get a book [or two!] published.

  28. I work at a Barnes and Noble in Southern CA. Your books are well displayed at my store. (I check them every couple days, straighten them, see how they’re selling.) ‘Just A Geek’ is my employee pick for the month and I’ve given you a wonderful review. Although my voice might not be as loud as Entertaiment Weekly’s, there are plenty of us out there letting anyone and everyone know you’re the real deal. You Rock!

  29. Wil,
    I read both your books, and loved them. I think whether you love them, or you don’t find it your thing. It must take someone with a vendetta to attack a story that you write so honest and humbly.
    You’re already cutting a new path with your books and blogging style, some people aren’t getting it at all it seems.
    Chin-up! You’re fans are unswerving!

  30. Jerks. But who are they to talk? Entertainment Weekly? It’s one of those trashy celeb magazines, right?
    I mean seriously, who are they to bash you or ANYTHING O’Reilly publishes? O’Reilly is phenomenal. It’s like Entertainment Weekly criticizing something published in Science!

  31. That just sucks. But at least you know you have thousands of people telling EW that *they* suck! Everyone knows your books are great. I don’t think EW s going to have any influence on anyone.

  32. Sod them. I’ve read JAG and I was very impressed.
    I’m not easy to please in a literary sense, but I thought it was a great book and you showed a massive amount of promise as a writer.
    I’ve never read EW (I’m English) but if it’s anything like its British counterparts then I wouldn’t worry. No entertainment magazine I’ve ever read bears even a passing resemblance to actual journalistic effort.

  33. It must be very disheartening to get stuck writing for Entertainment Weekly, of all places, and having to simply write nasty things about talented people, rather than actually having talent of one’s own. Not, of course, that this excuses, for a moment, writing obviously untrue reviews of books that one has clearly not read.
    This clown, whoever he is, can only *wish* that some day he’s able to write something that people won’t throw away when they’re done, and wonder what they read.
    Wil, you are a talented writer, and I expect even greater things from you in the future. When nobody remembers this clown’s name, I’ll be showing my kid my signed first editions and telling her that I heard you read them in person.
    While I understand, from experience, that sucky reviews hurt like hell, it seems that most reviewers see themselves as something other than normal readers, and feel that they have to see something that’s not there in order to justify their paycheck. Screw ’em.

  37. Although I read your site very infrequently (only when stupid sean bonner links you), I do have to say that I hardly ever see reference to your old gig. In fact, just upon reading your site, I wouldn’t even hazard a guess it was you…except for the fact that your name is wil weaton and you look like him.

  38. My letter:
    ———————–
    Just when I thought it was impossible for the tabloid-posing-as-journalism sect to sink to a new low, I see this:
    “Whiner of the Week”
    In his blog-cum-memoir Just a Geek, the former Star Trek, TNG cast member, now 32, fills 260 pages endlessly lamenting, “I used to be an actor when I was a kid.”
    Maybe your reporters should actually *read* the books they critique. This is equivelant to Roger Ebert saying, “Lord of the Rings was OK, but the space ships were just too much for me.” Or reducing David Copperfield to “My dad died, then my life sucked for a long time, then my mom kicked it, and then it sucked worse, and then it got better, but OH BOY it sucked there for awhile.”
    Whatever.
    ———————————
    Based on the number of daily hits this site is reported to get, I’d say that your regular readership probably exceeds the circulation of EW. We’re not ALL slobbering sycophants that take whatever the world throws at us if it’s labeled “TRUTH.”

  39. We live in a world where lying and “dissembling” have become acceptable and accepted practices. Even reporters at major news networks engage in it to push their preconceived notions. The entertainment business is no better.
    A tiger is a tiger and cannot change its stripes. You now have multiple experiences with the quality of writing at EW. So, the next time they ask to write something about you the answer should be a resounding “NO!” Don’t let their hacks go at your again.

  40. Wil, don’t pay any attention to those nincompoops. Whoever wrote that so-called “review” was obviously suffering from a MAJOR malfunction of his (or her) medulla oblongata–that is, if they even HAVE one!
    The best response I can suggest is the same one that organ composer Max Reger once sent to a music critic in Munich, Germany. It went thusly:
    “Dear Sir:
    I am writing this in the smallest room in my house. At the moment, I have your review in front of me. In another moment, I will have your review behind me!
    Signed,
    Max Reger”
    Nuff said? I thought so! Take care!
    Sincerely,
    Tom Nichol

  42. Wil,
    I was sitting in my home office, listening to your Mac Life interview when my roommate walked through on his way to the kitchen. I had passed on my copy of JAG to him several weeks ago, but he had not opened it yet.
    As he heard your voice from the interview, he commented that you really sound just like you came from the California suburbs.
    We then went on to talk about how you seemed to be the NEW VOICE for the average good guy who survived the harsh tribalism of your teen-age years and who now represents the portion of the Gen-X folks who are intelligent, techno-savvy, and concerned.
    Somehow, the ‘entertainment’ machine has missed the beat for a lot of us. We are not drug addicts, gang members, superheroes, samuri killing machines or punkers.
    I wish just being nice paid well. I think it is time for the GEEKS to rise up and rule! Oops, I think we ARE ruling now, but being our usual subtle selves.

  43. The quality of both People and EW has gone down significantly since the advent of reality shows. That’s all they seem to write about now.
    I’ve been thinking about cancelling my subscription to both magazines, and this pretty much clinches it.
    Ignore it wil. Your book was great, you’re a great writer with a long career ahead of you. Who cares what they think?

  44. Text of the email I sent to EW last night:
    “Dear EW:
    Did whichever staff member who called Wil Wheaton “Whiner of the Week” re: his memoir “Just a Geek” even bother to READ the book?
    I don’t think so. In fact, I know so. How do I know? Because I HAVE read it, and it is categorically NOT 260 pages of whining about being a has-been child actor. Instead, it is 260 pages of someone giving us insight into how he came to terms with his life–as an actor, yes, but also as a husband and stepfather and budding writer. There are going to be regrets in any life. That Mr. Wheaton gives voice to those regrets does not make him a whiner–it makes him an honest human being. And as such, he deserves more courtesy from a publication such as yours.
    Unless, of course, EW is more interested in displaying mean-spirited, puerile pseudo-cleverness than accurate reportage. If that’s the case, you may find you’ve lost a subscriber.”
    And according to the magazine’s Letters page, the email address is [email protected]–I’ve seen lots of folks leave off the “ew_” part, so I don’t know if emails to that address will get through.
    Hope so, though. What will be interesting to see is whether any of our letters get published.
    Between you and me and the gatepost, y’all, I’m not going to hold my breath…
    Syd

  46. Yeah, Dumbass *reporters*. I wrote to them yesterday. Don’t let the jackass get you down Wil. He should have read the book first.
    =====
    Dear Ed;
    I would have to say that the journalistic integrity of Entertainment Weekly never ceases to amaze me. The skill and dedication that goes
    into researching your articles to provide top quality and unbiased stories about our favourite celebrities is astonishing.
    Take for instance the latest issue of EW where on page 83 a so called “reporter” felt it necessary to malign a very poignant and interesting read by calling the author a ‘whiner’. The review may have been fair had the author event taken an opportunity to read the book.
    Wil Wheaton has struggled and gone through a metamorphosis over the past few years and has had some very real life altering revelations that most people in Hollywood are too shallow to be able to admit or even have for that matter.
    Not only has he been very public about it on his website but he has taken the opportunity to delve into a bit more depth so that people can really get to know him as a person and not just judge him as ‘That guy on Start Trek’ or ‘ That kid in Stand By Me’.
    Your ‘reporter’ (and I use the term very loosely) is a two bit hack that should have paid more attention in high school when they were teaching creative writing. At least he may have had a more realistic viewpoint.
    Another reader lost
    =====

  47. Dude, I totally agree with EW (hear me out). If I was some douche bag who decided that only bad news sells and decided to read 3 sentences of the first chapter maybe I would have written the same. The problem with these people is that they target the lowest common denominator – people who just want to hear about sadness and misery to make their own fucking existance barable.
    They quite clearly didn’t read your book, especially considering how much self discovery happens in the later chapters and how much you completely move past your acting in your younger years. You had so much success then, but I think you are recieving so much more now as an Author.
    You totally rock dude, don’t let these losers get you down. I am about 2-thirds the way through JAG and as soon as I finish I will be sure to review it on my website (just like I did with Dancing Barefoot) and I’ll send you a link. Hang in their buddy and don’t let the man get you down. \m/

  48. the comments on this blog should be evidence enough that this so called rag-writer had no clue as to what he based his dribble on.
    we all support your work Wil, and hope you place this is in your ‘theyre not worthy’ bank. YOU ARE ABOVE THIS!!
    take care mann

  49. I have scanned over these comments. I especially like the one about not reading your own press. But, as an ex-pro basketball player in Europe, I know that sometimes, you just can’t help it. And it hurts when it’s negative like that. So I feel for you. One thing is for sure, all this guy has done is raise awareness for you and reinforce the loyalty of people who read your site, including me.

  50. Stick it to ’em Will. I think its because of EW that people have a bad opinion of you. I’ve never found EW amusing, its boring and not very geek friendly. Besides, the stuff that I’ve read in there was posted to Slashdot or Ain’t It Cool News long before EW even got wind of it.

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