I Am Spock

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I Am Spock is the second autobiography written by Leonard Nimoy. The book was published in 1995, four years after the last Star Trek motion picture starring the original cast was produced. Thus, this book covers Nimoy's entire history with Trek in general and Mr. Spock in particular.

The title of this book is meant to atone for a past mistake. Twenty years previous, when the original Star Trek series had been cancelled and before Star Trek: The Motion Picture was created, Nimoy released his first auto-biography: I Am Not Spock. While the contents of the book had nothing negative to say about Star Trek nor Spock, many fans and critics could not get past the title. Nimoy was widely criticized by the fans for his apparent "hatred" of that which had made him so popular.

In his second autobiography, Nimoy explains that the title of the first book had been his idea, over the objections of his publishers. He had not anticipated the problem of people reading the title without reading the book. In reality, his feelings toward Spock had not changed at all in the intervening years. On the contrary, Nimoy explains in this book that Spock has always been a part of him.

This duality is explored and taken to extremes throughout the book. Indeed, the book's foreword is written by Mr. Spock himself, in the form of a letter the Vulcan writes to Leonard Nimoy, to express confusion over the highly illogical title. Throughout the book, Nimoy frequently has conversations with his other half, as he explores the choices and decisions he has made throughout his life, and how those choices have been affected by a certain calm logical voice in the back of his mind.

While the focus of the book is on Nimoy's Star Trek career, he also takes time to explore his other works, including directing and theatre acting. Memorable stories include his being forced to tell an actress she needed to redo a highly emotional scene due to a crew member's mistake, and how directing Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home led to Hollywood giving him a shot at directing Three Men and a Baby.

On the topic of Spock's future, Nimoy notes that the Star Trek franchise shows no sign of dying, and that as far as he is concerned, Spock is still alive and well working on Romulus (as seen in one episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation).

[edit] External link

• I Am Spock article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki.