The Autobiography of James T. Kirk: The Story of Starfleet's Greatest Captain

In honor of the 50th anniversary of Star Trek coming up this September 8, I read The Autobiography of James T. Kirk. Exactly what it sounds like, this is a first-person account of the life of the character most famously portrayed by William Shatner, and more recently by Chris Pine. However, from the start it's made clear that this won't take place in J. J. Abrams' alternate timeline, since this Kirk grew up with both of his parents and an older brother. There is but a single nod to the new films in the fact of George Kirk being stationed on the USS Kelvin.

Kirk tells us about his childhood on Earth and then his first venture into space, including a stint on the planet Tarsus IV where he witnesses the massacre perpetrated by Governor Kodos. This comes back into play in the events of the Original Series episode "The Conscience of the King". Then Kirk spends some time talking about his time at Starfleet Academy, giving some explanation of the backstory explored in the episode "Shore Leave", and his quick rise to captain of the Enterprise at a young age.

The book continues to recount a lot of events from the TV series and films from Kirk's point of view, which some reviewers have dismissed as "recaps," but I think it's worthwhile to be inside his head and know what he was thinking at the time, and what decisions he regrets. He turns out to have a good reason for being a womanizer; a series of failed relationships and unexpected tragedies made him wary of getting close to anyone.

We come to realize that he carries a lot of guilt about the countless crew members he has lost during his missions, and about not being a present father for his son. It worked as a dramatic twist in the film The Wrath of Khan to reveal Kirk had an estranged child, but when we realize David would have been conceived during the events of the show but was never mentioned before, it feels like a cheat. So I found it especially interesting that this book delves into the relationship between James Kirk, Carol Marcus, and their son David in greater depth, and attempts to explain why they could not be a family unit.

Another value of this book is the imaginative way it fills in the gaps of established canon, showing what the crew was up to between the end of the series and the first Motion Picture, as well as some events between the films. Though sometimes it takes liberties that will certainly not become canonical themselves, such as the depiction of the reviled Star Trek V: The Final Frontier as merely a movie from a world parallel to ours, instead of events that Kirk actually participated in.

As a casual fan of Star Trek, I enjoyed this book and it gave me new motivation to watch more of the Original Series, and perhaps rewatch the films, since it puts so many of those stories into new context. It would probably appeal most to long time fans of the franchise, but I think even someone who has never seen Shatner on screen will get some enjoyment from it, and the footnotes help to explain some of the important concepts such as the Prime Directive. For insight into the more subtle references, I recommend searching Memory Alpha.

Since the book makes an effort to remain "in-universe", it and "editor" David A. Goodman do not have a specific webpage that I can link to, but you can buy the book at startrek.com.