Nimoy knows some people will only be interested in his story because of his family connection to the Star Trek
actor, his father Leonard Nimoy; early on, recounting an excruciating meeting with a literary agent, he contemplates calling his book I Am Not the Son of Spock
. There are a few celebrity-filled anecdotes, such as his youthful crushes on Jill Ireland and Bibi Andersson. His core story, however, is about the personal upheavals that come when he decides to end a decades-long addiction to marijuana. Once he stops using pot to shield himself from pain, Nimoy realizes his marriage isn't working. The separation hits his adolescent son and daughter hard, and the book's most poignant scenes track the turbulence as he works to maintain a place in their emotional lives. Nimoy's career as a television director has honed his sense of story; in one chapter, he reframes a youthful run-in with the cops as an exercise for his film students to find the “moment of decision” driving the character. The best scenes from this “anti-memoir” zero in on those emotional cores, enabling Nimoy to tell an instantly recognizable story of heartache and recovery with deceivingly simple honesty. B&w photos throughout. (July)
