To the Stars: The Autobiography of George Takei, Star Trek's Mr. Sulu

Takei, George

ISBN 10: 0671890085 / ISBN 13: 9780671890087

Published by Pocket Books, New York, 1994

About this Item

x, 406 pages, illustrations; 23 cm. SIGNED. Boldly signed by George Takei in 1995 on the half-title page, no dedication. Stated First Pocket Books hardcover printing. Dust jacket protected in a mylar cover. *** "Best known as Mr. Sulu, helmsman of the Starship Enterprise and Captain of the Starship Excelsior, George Takei is beloved by millions as part of the command team that has taken audiences to new vistas of adventure in Star Trek - the unprecedented television and feature film phenomenon. From the program's death at the hands of the network to its rebirth in the hearts and minds of loyal fans, the Star Trek story has blazed its own path into our recent cultural history, leading to a series of blockbuster feature films and three new versions of Star Trek for television. While the public record of Star Trek is familiar to us all, much of the real story is not. Starting with Star Trek's inception and encompassing its breakneck production schedule, the show's cancellation and its renewed life in films, George Takei gives a unique firsthand account of the creative experiences, personalities, and egos behind the thirty-year Star Trek phenomenon. The Star Trek story is one of boundless hope and crushing disappointment, wrenching rivalries and incredible achievements. It is also the story of how, after nearly thirty years, the cast of characters from a unique but poorly rated television show have come to be known to millions of Americans and people around the world as family." - Publisher. Size: 8vo.

Seller Inventory # 112845

Bibliographic Details

• Title: To the Stars: The Autobiography of George Takei, Star Trek's Mr. Sulu
• Publisher: Pocket Books, New York
• Publication Date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0671890085
• ISBN 13: 9780671890087
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st.
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Fine
• Signed: SIGNED
• Book Type: Collectible

About this title

Synopsis

George Takei shares the dramatic and turbulent events of his career, from his childhood and life in a Japanese internment camp during World War II, to his years on Star Trek, to his success as an actor, author, and businessman. 85,000 first printing. Tour.

Reviews

Asian-American actor Takei attributes his success to his role as Mr. Sulu on the Star Trek TV series and in six full-length motion pictures (1966-1991). Starting with his Japanese-American family's internment in a WWII high-security camp in northern California, this lively memoir reveals the author's upbeat but pragmatic nature. The boy's early fascination with the theater, abetted by supportive parents and a B.A. and M.A. in theater from UCLA, led to his discovery when he was 27 by Gene Roddenberry, creator/producer of Star Trek. While Takei's film credits include Ice Palace, Green Berets and [Return from the River Kwai], most of the book, of major interest to Star Trek fans, deals with behind-the-scenes accounts of the series' filming and production.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Star Trek's Mr. Sulu may be famous for fictional adventures out among the asteroids, but his own life, especially the early years, down on terra firma has been adventurous, too. To begin with, adventure stemmed from the accident of birth. The first child of a Japanese American mother and Japanese immigrant father denied U.S. citizenship because of the naturalization quotas then in force, Takei went with them into internment camps, first in Arkansas and then in California, during World War II. After the war, the family settled in East L.A., where George began school and a lifelong appreciation for Latino culture. Later, his father managed a crosstown move that put George into a mixed-race, up-and-coming, middle-class neighborhood, and his first adventure in political action occurred when teenage George found summer work picking strawberries and discovered the paymasters cheating Mexican pickers. Takei relates the incidents of these and his subsequent years establishing an acting career and continuing to express his social ideals (he even ran for the L.A. city council) in an anecdotal style that sounds as if he's honed it at many a Trekkers' convention. They're darn good stories and less predictable than his Star Trek memories, which tend to reinforce what Trekkers already know: for example, Bill Shatner is a tad egoistic, and Nichelle Nichols is pretty wonderful. So boldly go and read his book. Ray Olson

Takei's account may go where others- namely William Shatner's Star Trek Memories (LJ 10/1/93) and Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek: The First 25 Years (Pocket Bks., 1991)-have gone before: to the best sellers lists.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.