Dancing Barefoot (book)

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Dancing Barefoot is a book of memoirs written by actor Wil Wheaton and illustrated by illustrator Ben Claassen III. In Spring of 2003 Wheaton founded the independent publishing company Monolith Press, and released the book (ISBN 0-9741160-0-9). Most of the entries are extended versions of his online weblog entries at his website, Wil Wheaton Dot Net.

Wheaton sold out three printings in four months, and in Winter 2003, the book's success caught the eye of publisher Tim O'Reilly, who signed Wheaton to a three book contract. O'Reilly Media acquired Dancing Barefoot, and released Wheaton's extended memoirs, Just a Geek in Spring of 2004.

O'Reilly's website describes Wheaton's book thus:

"Wil Wheaton—blogger, geek, and Star Trek: The Next Generation's Wesley Crusher—gives us five short-but-true tales of life in the so-called Space Age in Dancing Barefoot. With a true geek's unflinching honesty, Wil examines life, love, the web, and the absurdities of Hollywood in these compelling autobiographical narratives. Based on pieces first published in Wil's hugely popular blog, www.wilwheaton.net, the stories in Dancing Barefoot chronicle a teen TV star's journey to maturity and self-acceptance. Far from the usual celebrity tell-all, Dancing Barefoot is a vivid account of one man's version of that universal story, the search for self. If you've ever fallen in love, wondered what goes on behind the scenes at a Star Trek convention, or thought hard about the meaning of life, you'll find a kindred soul in the pages of Dancing Barefoot. In the process of uncovering his true geeky self, Wil Wheaton speaks to the inner geek in all of us."

The title of the book is taken from a song of the same name written and recorded by Patti Smith. The song appears on her group's 1979 album Wave.