It is no secret to anyone who knows me: I unabashedly, wholeheartedly love William Shatner. I’ve followed him across stages, screens, and bookshelves for decades, but nothing in his vast catalog quite prepared me for his latest book: Wisdom & Worries. Before I dive into my full review of what turned out to be one of the most surprising, soul-stirring works he’s ever put out, let me put into perspective just how deep my fandom runs.
Over the decades, my admiration for the man has only deepened. I’ve been fortunate enough to meet him twice at conventions—first alongside Scott Bakula, then with Bill himself—and both encounters cemented how magnetic he is in person. Then there is Boston Legal. I adored that show with a burning passion; I own every single season on DVD and have watched the entire series from start to finish twice. Denny Crane remains one of the sharpest, funniest, and most strangely moving performances ever put on television, a masterclass in comic timing layered over genuine heart.
What has always captivated me most about Shatner, though, is his relentless refusal to be boxed in. For decades, he has possessed an uncanny ability to stay relevant and constantly reinvent himself—from Shakespearean actor and sci-fi captain to Emmy-winning comedic powerhouse, spoken-word artist, and real-life space traveler. Now, at 95, he remains one of my greatest personal inspirations. His vibrant energy, sheer lust for life, and boundless intellectual curiosity put people a third of his age to shame. Whenever he announces a new project or book, I line up to devour it without hesitation.
When he announced his latest release, Wisdom and Worries: Reflections on Life, Love, Loss, and Everything in Between, I was ecstatic. But I’ll be completely honest: when I opened the listing and saw how brief it was—and realized it was composed of poems and lyrics rather than a traditional narrative memoir—my excitement dipped for a split second. I wondered whether it would feel fleeting or insubstantial compared to his expansive autobiographical works.
I could not have been more mistaken.
I bought both the Kindle and Audible editions, hit play in my car, and finished the audiobook within 24 hours. Having experienced it, I can say with zero hesitation that Wisdom and Worries is easily one of the greatest, most profound things William Shatner has ever created.
Listening to it in the car felt like having a legendary, battle-tested soul sitting in the passenger seat, baring everything without a shred of pretense. Shatner’s narration is breathtakingly impassioned and moving. No one delivers the spoken word quite like Bill; the cadences, the pregnant pauses, the sudden burst of warmth or quiet vulnerability give these pieces an intimacy you simply cannot replicate in standard prose.
The poems and lyrics span the entire spectrum of the human experience. Some are laugh-out-loud funny, steeped in his trademark self-effacing wit and wry observations about aging, fame, and everyday absurdities. Others are devastatingly poignant, dealing directly with grief, legacy, mortality, love, and the quiet awe of looking back across nearly a century of living on this blue planet. Each entry is distinct, potent, and beautifully sculpted. While reading the text on Kindle is wonderful in its own right, hearing Shatner speak these words aloud breathes visceral life into every single syllable.
It is rare to encounter an artist who, in his tenth decade, is still digging deeper, taking creative risks, and searching for truth rather than merely resting on his laurels. Wisdom and Worries isn’t just a pleasant read for longtime fans—it is a deeply human, universally resonant work of art that everyone should read and, above all, listen to.
William Shatner is an enduring icon in the truest sense of the word. We are lucky to share a world with someone who remains such an unstoppable creative force, an open-hearted philosopher, and an overwhelmingly positive light.
May he continue to shine on.
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