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birdkeeperklink's review against another edition
1.0
This is an excellent example of fame going to a person's head, making them feel as though they are more intelligent than they actually are. Ms. Nichols gives off the unfortunate (and hopefully unintentional) impression that she thinks she is always right and always in the right, except perhaps where her relationship with her mother and her romantic relationships are concerned. She doesn't recount experiences where she was wrong, or even where she was embarrassed, unless she was embarrassed because of another person's wrongdoing. She comes off as always having a sassy retort for any situation, and that's simply not possible.
Also, despite apparently belonging to the 'Church of Science' or the 'Science of Mind', she does not think very critically. Despite being a fanatical fan of 'Gene Roddenberry's vision' (as she refers to it), she doesn't approach the world, life, or her relationships in a very rational way. One expects more from someone who purports to believe in humanity's future.
A specific, but not the only, example of this is her relations with William Shatner. In the past, I had no opinion on this 'feud' because I loved all of the cast of Star Trek and didn't know enough to really have a 'side'. But the more I hear from George Takei, James Doohan and Ms. Nichols...the more I can't help siding with William Shatner, which is completely the opposite of their intent in complaining about him, I should think. If he was really so bad, if he really hurt you so much and made your lives miserable, why did you wait until twenty years after the series was over to start telling people, and most importantly Mr. Shatner himself? Why didn't you confront him back when the problem was actually happening, rather than complaining to one another and making jokes about it where he couldn't hear? Why did you wait to confront him until after it was too late for him to do anything about his behavior? Did you really never consider that maybe he acts like it was no big deal because it's been over twenty-five years and he can't change it now? Or maybe he thinks it couldn't have been that big a deal since you waited so long to say anything? In the end, he, for all his egotistical nature, comes out looking better than the other side of the Shatner vs. Enterprise crew war. He looks like the adult in this situation, not Ms. Nichols, George Takei and the rest--at least by my way of thinking. Of course, the only real winners in this war are Leonard Nimoy, who wrote not one but two autobiographies that managed to not snipe at any of his former castmates about anything (furthering his well-deserved reputation as a gentleman), and DeForest Kelley, who died without writing an autobiography or, as far as I can tell, saying a single mean word in public about any of his former castmates. Everyone else loses.
That brings up a point I've noticed, so far in Ms. Nichols' book and in George Takei and William Shatner's media arguments--they all three seem to want to correct each other's versions of events, when really, all of them are old and all of them are trying to remember things that happened more than twenty years ago (in the case of the series, at least--usually ten or less for the movies, depending on which movie and when the book or statement was written/said). How can any of them claim to remember better than any of the others? The chances of any of their memories of any given event being crystal-clear are slim to none, regardless of Ms. Nichols' claims of being able to remember everything with crystal clarity since she was six or seven months old (come on!). And that's not even taking into account the large amounts of research that show memories are not stored like files in a file cabinet, but actually reconstructed every time you 'remember' them, which makes them highly susceptible to hindsight and influences from what you're currently seeing, feeling and experiencing (see You Are Not So Smart for a better explanation).
Oh, and Ms. Nichols believes in star signs (Leo, Gemini and so forth), and thinks her mother had psychic powers. She has no proof that these things work, and has apparently not bothered to think critically about them in any way at all. That's not approaching life with a scientific mind, in my opinion.
So as you've probably guessed by now, I was very disappointed. This book, amazingly enough, did not diminish my love for the character Uhura, but I'm afraid it distanced me from Ms. Nichols herself. Her whole tone, somewhat condescending and egocentric, was off-putting. Her stories were all over the place, so you don't get a good sense of the chronology of her life, and people are introduced only to disappear into the ether--for example, we never find out how or why her second marriage ended, or what happened to her second ex-husband afterward. It's not well-organized. She did go through some hardships (almost getting raped, facing racists in various situations, barely escaping the clutches of a mob boss) that inspire respect. It's just that the tone is so alienating. I really think I would skip this one unless you just can't bear not to read it.
Also, despite apparently belonging to the 'Church of Science' or the 'Science of Mind', she does not think very critically. Despite being a fanatical fan of 'Gene Roddenberry's vision' (as she refers to it), she doesn't approach the world, life, or her relationships in a very rational way. One expects more from someone who purports to believe in humanity's future.
A specific, but not the only, example of this is her relations with William Shatner. In the past, I had no opinion on this 'feud' because I loved all of the cast of Star Trek and didn't know enough to really have a 'side'. But the more I hear from George Takei, James Doohan and Ms. Nichols...the more I can't help siding with William Shatner, which is completely the opposite of their intent in complaining about him, I should think. If he was really so bad, if he really hurt you so much and made your lives miserable, why did you wait until twenty years after the series was over to start telling people, and most importantly Mr. Shatner himself? Why didn't you confront him back when the problem was actually happening, rather than complaining to one another and making jokes about it where he couldn't hear? Why did you wait to confront him until after it was too late for him to do anything about his behavior? Did you really never consider that maybe he acts like it was no big deal because it's been over twenty-five years and he can't change it now? Or maybe he thinks it couldn't have been that big a deal since you waited so long to say anything? In the end, he, for all his egotistical nature, comes out looking better than the other side of the Shatner vs. Enterprise crew war. He looks like the adult in this situation, not Ms. Nichols, George Takei and the rest--at least by my way of thinking. Of course, the only real winners in this war are Leonard Nimoy, who wrote not one but two autobiographies that managed to not snipe at any of his former castmates about anything (furthering his well-deserved reputation as a gentleman), and DeForest Kelley, who died without writing an autobiography or, as far as I can tell, saying a single mean word in public about any of his former castmates. Everyone else loses.
That brings up a point I've noticed, so far in Ms. Nichols' book and in George Takei and William Shatner's media arguments--they all three seem to want to correct each other's versions of events, when really, all of them are old and all of them are trying to remember things that happened more than twenty years ago (in the case of the series, at least--usually ten or less for the movies, depending on which movie and when the book or statement was written/said). How can any of them claim to remember better than any of the others? The chances of any of their memories of any given event being crystal-clear are slim to none, regardless of Ms. Nichols' claims of being able to remember everything with crystal clarity since she was six or seven months old (come on!). And that's not even taking into account the large amounts of research that show memories are not stored like files in a file cabinet, but actually reconstructed every time you 'remember' them, which makes them highly susceptible to hindsight and influences from what you're currently seeing, feeling and experiencing (see You Are Not So Smart for a better explanation).
Oh, and Ms. Nichols believes in star signs (Leo, Gemini and so forth), and thinks her mother had psychic powers. She has no proof that these things work, and has apparently not bothered to think critically about them in any way at all. That's not approaching life with a scientific mind, in my opinion.
So as you've probably guessed by now, I was very disappointed. This book, amazingly enough, did not diminish my love for the character Uhura, but I'm afraid it distanced me from Ms. Nichols herself. Her whole tone, somewhat condescending and egocentric, was off-putting. Her stories were all over the place, so you don't get a good sense of the chronology of her life, and people are introduced only to disappear into the ether--for example, we never find out how or why her second marriage ended, or what happened to her second ex-husband afterward. It's not well-organized. She did go through some hardships (almost getting raped, facing racists in various situations, barely escaping the clutches of a mob boss) that inspire respect. It's just that the tone is so alienating. I really think I would skip this one unless you just can't bear not to read it.
bev_reads_mysteries's review
4.0
In Beyond Uhura, Nichelle Nichols tells her story from the beginnings growing up in a socially progressive family through her teen years as a young singer/dancer who had already been praised by Josephine Baker and worked with Duke Ellington. She got her first job at the age of fourteen working in a cast at the Sherman House Hotel which portrayed many of the tremendous acts which had been staged at the Sherman House's College Inn supper club in the twenties: Fred and Adele Astaire, Duke Ellington, Al Jolson, Irving Berlin and others. Ms. Nichols helped re-create the appearance of Katherine Dunham and her troupe. From those early years, she went on to travel solo as a singer/dancer and finally worked her way to her first television screen appearance in a new show by a new producer--The Lieutenant by Gene Roddenberry.
Little did she know what working with Roddenberry on that first series would lead to. Nichelle is, as far as I'm concerned, the first lady of Star Trek. (Yes, I know that title is most often given to Majel Barrett as Gene's wife.) She is beautiful, a great actress, and an even better singer. She had a tremendous effect on the entry of women and minorities into the space program. Yes, her autobiography is just a little self-indulgent--but she's earned it. (Show me someone in the entertainment world who isn't. Most are even more so.) And..she manages through each of the negative incidents in her life--from being not only a woman in Hollywood, but a black woman in Hollywood--to remain very positive throughout.
A fascinating (to quote Mr. Spock) read. I have always enjoyed her as Uhura. I enjoyed this book and its look at her life before and outside of Star Trek.
First posted on my blog . Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
Little did she know what working with Roddenberry on that first series would lead to. Nichelle is, as far as I'm concerned, the first lady of Star Trek. (Yes, I know that title is most often given to Majel Barrett as Gene's wife.) She is beautiful, a great actress, and an even better singer. She had a tremendous effect on the entry of women and minorities into the space program. Yes, her autobiography is just a little self-indulgent--but she's earned it. (Show me someone in the entertainment world who isn't. Most are even more so.) And..she manages through each of the negative incidents in her life--from being not only a woman in Hollywood, but a black woman in Hollywood--to remain very positive throughout.
A fascinating (to quote Mr. Spock) read. I have always enjoyed her as Uhura. I enjoyed this book and its look at her life before and outside of Star Trek.
First posted on my blog . Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
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