A bit of geekery…
Nerd Do Well by Simon Pegg
355 pages
Genre Non-Fiction (Autobiography)
Wednesday 3rd April – Thursday 18th April (16 days)
5 morning, 4 afternoon, 6 evening, 1 night.
I don’t often read autobiographies or biographies, but this one caught my eye. I like Simon Pegg, I’m a fan of Spaced, Big Train, Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. I’m a nerd. I thought this book would tick a few boxes, so I gave it a go.
It’s very good, he has a nice writing style which is familiar, funny and easy to read, and the book is less of a “here is my life from birth to now with some funny anecdotes” and more of a “here is how I became a nerd and succeeded”. His stories about Star Wars, acting in a theatre group, stand up comedy at school etc. are all charming and funny, and his journey from small geeky child to today is brilliant. There are a few anecdotes about meeting Quentin Tarantino, working with Nick Frost on various films, and Star Trek, but it’s generally the more “before I was famous” stories that make up the majority of the book and that I liked the most.
There is also a brilliant chapter on the pub that inspired the Winchester in Shaun of the Dead. One of my favourite bits of the book, as I identitified with this element of the film and the explanation and description of the ‘real’ Winchester did not disappoint! The way he talks about the pub, and the people he socialises with is so lovely, and much more interesting to me than the anecdotes about meeting famous actors and directors.
I was slightly disappointed with the lack of Spaced in the book, which is one of my favourite TV programmes and I wanted to know more… but never mind, the rest of the book was fab. The photos in the middle of the book were quite interesting in a voyeuristic way, as they always are. Interspersed between the chapters about Simon’s life is a story he has written abut an exaggerated superhero version of himself. It was mildly amusing, but to be honest, I could take it or leave it… the interesting parts of the book, him discussing his life as a geek, were the bits I wanted to read.
But, all in all, an interesting, amusing and entertaining read.
Next book: Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman
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