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Collect All 21! Memoirs of a Star Wars Geek - Expanded Edition
Opening that first Darth Vader figure and putting him in a Landspeeder. Imagining a snowy elementary school playground as the wastes of Hoth. Seeing Return of the Jedi on opening night.
Moments like these - and a galaxy more - make up more than three decades of "Memoirs of a Star Wars Geek." Author and first-generation saga fan John Booth takes the reader from a childhood packed with Star Wars guys (never "action figures") and Christmas wishes both fulfilled and unrealized, through the years when the trilogy lay dormant to the mainstream public's eye, and into an age of seeing George Lucas' universe as an adult while exploring it again as a parent.
Collect All 21! revisits the late 1970s and early '80s, in all their bad-haircuts-and-Atari glory, then moves beyond those decades and nostalgia to explore the evolution of the Star Wars saga and its fandom.
This expanded electronic edition also includes interviews with Star Wars cast and crew members reflecting on the saga’s impact from both first-generation-fan standpoints and a career spent bringing the universe to life on-screen.
Named by Topless Robot as one of The Ten Greatest Non-Fiction Star Wars Books, Collect All 21! is a love letter from a self-aware geek written under the sometimes harsh light of hindsight, softened with understanding. It captures the innocence and wonder and infinite possibilities of what it meant to an eight-year-old to Collect All 21!
"Like a nostalgic walk through your childhood and growing up geek."
- WIRED magazine's GeekDad
"The feeling of childhood magic that pours from its pages will have you reflecting on how much of an impact the Wars have had on you."
- Topless Robot
"I never thought I’d actually get that Time-Travel Belt, but reading this book is almost better."
- George Krstic, writer, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Motorcity, and Megas XLR
Moments like these - and a galaxy more - make up more than three decades of "Memoirs of a Star Wars Geek." Author and first-generation saga fan John Booth takes the reader from a childhood packed with Star Wars guys (never "action figures") and Christmas wishes both fulfilled and unrealized, through the years when the trilogy lay dormant to the mainstream public's eye, and into an age of seeing George Lucas' universe as an adult while exploring it again as a parent.
Collect All 21! revisits the late 1970s and early '80s, in all their bad-haircuts-and-Atari glory, then moves beyond those decades and nostalgia to explore the evolution of the Star Wars saga and its fandom.
This expanded electronic edition also includes interviews with Star Wars cast and crew members reflecting on the saga’s impact from both first-generation-fan standpoints and a career spent bringing the universe to life on-screen.
Named by Topless Robot as one of The Ten Greatest Non-Fiction Star Wars Books, Collect All 21! is a love letter from a self-aware geek written under the sometimes harsh light of hindsight, softened with understanding. It captures the innocence and wonder and infinite possibilities of what it meant to an eight-year-old to Collect All 21!
"Like a nostalgic walk through your childhood and growing up geek."
- WIRED magazine's GeekDad
"The feeling of childhood magic that pours from its pages will have you reflecting on how much of an impact the Wars have had on you."
- Topless Robot
"I never thought I’d actually get that Time-Travel Belt, but reading this book is almost better."
- George Krstic, writer, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Motorcity, and Megas XLR
158 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 20, 2008
6 people are currently reading
34 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
September 17, 2012
I came across John's book about eight months into writing my own. I admit that I was a bit annoyed at first, since I had thought the idea of writing a memoir of my childhood infatuation with Star Wars was an original one, and here John had beaten me to it by three years. But I ordered the book, read it, and couldn't stay annoyed! However different our backgrounds and childhoods were, it was impossible not to relate to his story. One of the points I try to make in my own book is just how many men there are in the world who lived through Star Wars mania in varying degrees. Whatever our differences, we have these films (and the toys and merchandise that went with them) in common. John has his account of a Star Wars childhood, I have mine, and there must be millions more out there that have yet to be told.
December 24, 2012
Not a Star Wars Geek, not really a Geek, period, well just through association apparently it does rub off.
I didn't see Star Wars until the mid 80's, just not my thing. I meet and fell for a geek, and my world was changed.
I picked up this book at a little table outside a very cool bookstore for the DH's. John signed it and i went to the next table, not much thought involved.
The cool thing about John's little book is i pick it and read a chapter if i have a few minutes and I can see the boy my husband had been. He had all that stuff, up until i made him clean stuff out and put his movie posters in the damp basement of our first house, etc etc. Damn the guilt i feel, i just didn't understand, now i do. So based on that alone John's book earned 4 stars, it isn't easy to make me feel guilt 25 years later.
I didn't see Star Wars until the mid 80's, just not my thing. I meet and fell for a geek, and my world was changed.
I picked up this book at a little table outside a very cool bookstore for the DH's. John signed it and i went to the next table, not much thought involved.
The cool thing about John's little book is i pick it and read a chapter if i have a few minutes and I can see the boy my husband had been. He had all that stuff, up until i made him clean stuff out and put his movie posters in the damp basement of our first house, etc etc. Damn the guilt i feel, i just didn't understand, now i do. So based on that alone John's book earned 4 stars, it isn't easy to make me feel guilt 25 years later.
October 22, 2008
Great walk down memory lane if you grew up in the Star Wars generation! (disclosure: Booth is a close personal friend of mine, so I'm predisposed to love his work...also enjoyed "Crossing Decembers" quite a bit!)
February 13, 2010
A fun, quick read, and it certainly brought back a lot of memories of my own childhood, when Star Wars was the all-consuming fire of my life, too.
April 22, 2017
Growing up, Star Wars figures were always referred to as "Star Wars guys", never "Star Wars figures". I had forgotten.
This book is full of reminders like that, and for those of us who remember the mind-blowing amazement of unwrapping a mammoth AT-AT box at Christmas, or not realizing that Return of the Jedi sucked when you walked out of the theater because you had so much fun, it's a really enjoyable book. It's well worth reading for that reason (plus you can knock it out in no time, so why not?).
Why only 3 stars? Because it's just not a good book, nostalgia aside. It kind of reads like the notes for an actual book. I grew up near the author's hometown, so I even knew many of the locations he referenced. But if I hadn't? Regardless, if you grew up on Star Wars, go for it.
This book is full of reminders like that, and for those of us who remember the mind-blowing amazement of unwrapping a mammoth AT-AT box at Christmas, or not realizing that Return of the Jedi sucked when you walked out of the theater because you had so much fun, it's a really enjoyable book. It's well worth reading for that reason (plus you can knock it out in no time, so why not?).
Why only 3 stars? Because it's just not a good book, nostalgia aside. It kind of reads like the notes for an actual book. I grew up near the author's hometown, so I even knew many of the locations he referenced. But if I hadn't? Regardless, if you grew up on Star Wars, go for it.
March 14, 2009
Wow! What a trip! This book brought back memories that were so deeply hidden. It kinda freaked me out. Star Wars was a very important part of my life when I was 11 and I guess it will always be. This book chronicles the life of a young adult and his imagination that was stirred by Star Wars. If you loved this movie you will love it again while reading this book. Great fun!
February 10, 2011
Even though I'm not American and did not grow up in America when the Original Trilogy was let loose on an unsuspecting world, I shared the same feelings John Booth had when he first saw Star Wars (always will be Star Wars and not Episode IV) and the subsequent sequels, the lean years and then watching the prequels as an adult. A great trip down memory lane even if my lane was half a world away.
October 27, 2012
Taking a trip down your own memory lane is one thing, but following someone down theirs is a fascinating treat. John reminds us all how Star Wars changed our lives by telling us how it affected his life. It's a good feeling to know we are all connected by a common bond and reading John's memories makes all remember what it was like growing up with Star Wars. This is a must read.
October 11, 2014
If you were a child when Star Wars was new, you'll spend half of this read nodding along remembering similar "shared" times with your "Star Wars guys". This will make you feel young and old at the same time.
April 11, 2012
one of the most enjoyable books I've ever read. Every page brought back a wonderful memory.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews