Audio Books by George Takei

The New York Times bestselling graphic memoir from actor/author/activist George Takei returns in a deluxe edition with 16 pages of bonus material! Experience the forces that shaped an American icon -- and America itself -- in this gripping tale of courage, country, loyalty, and love. George Takei has captured hearts and minds worldwide with his magnetic performances, sharp wit, and outspoken commitment to equal rights. But long before he braved new frontiers in STAR TREK, he woke up as a four-year-old boy to find his own birth country at war with his father''s -- and their entire family forced from their home into an uncertain future. In 1942, at the order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, every person of Japanese descent on the west coast was rounded up and shipped to one of ten "relocation centers," hundreds or thousands of miles from home, where they would be held for years under armed guard. THEY CALLED US ENEMY is Takei''s firsthand account of those years behind barbed wire, the terrors and small joys of childhood in the shadow of legalized racism, his mother''s hard choices, his father''s tested faith in democracy, and the way those experiences planted the seeds for his astonishing future. What does it mean to be American? Who gets to decide? George Takei joins cowriters Justin Eisinger & Steven Scott and artist Harmony Becker for the journey of a lifetime.

Best known as Mr. Sulu, helmsman of the Starship Enterprise™ and captain of the Starship Excelsior, George Takei is beloved by millions as part of the command team that has taken audiences to new vistas of adventure in Star Trek®—the unprecedented television and feature film phenomenon. From the program’s birth in the changing world of the 1960s and death at the hands of the network to its rebirth in the hearts and minds of loyal fans, the Star Trek story has blazed its own path into our recent cultural history, leading to a series of blockbuster feature films and three new versions of Star Trek for television. The Star Trek story is one of boundless hope and crushing disappointment, wrenching rivalries and incredible achievements. It is also the story of how, after nearly thirty years, the cast of characters from a unique but poorly rated television show have come to be known to millions of Americans and people around the world as family. For George Takei, the Star Trek adventure is intertwined with his personal odyssey through adversity in which four-year-old George and his family were forced by the United States government into internment camps during World War II. Star Trek means much more to George Takei than an extraordinary career that has spanned thirty years. For an American whose ideals faced such a severe test, Star Trek represents a shining embodiment of the American Dream—the promise of an optimistic future in which people from all over the world contribute to a common destiny.

George Takei is the undisputed King of Facebook, with millions of fans liking, commenting and sharing his posts each week. Following on his best-selling Oh Myyy (There Goes the Internet), in this second book Takei caps another year at the top of the Internet, with more hilarious compilations and commentary on the best memes in the galaxy, covering everything from Admiral Ackbar to Siri to Grumpy Cat. But his reign isn''t all fun and LOLs. In this groundbreaking book, Takei also chronicles the "dark side" of the Net - how he has battled the haters, spammers and trolls, and even how some of his once-loyal fans were quick to turn on him. Takei''s musings on the nature of our increasingly connected world - why people share, what it really means, and how the developing world actually gets how to use social media - is required reading for anyone trying to understand and leverage its power. Takei has used his own vast powers as a social medialite for the good of humanity, taking on the forces of inequality and oppression both at home and in far flung lands like Putin''s Russia, proving that "Uncle George" is not just fabulously funny, but fantastically fierce. Oh Myyy. Indeed.

The Cat Who Chose to Dream shares the story of a cat''s choice to be interned in a World War II internment camp as a gesture of loving support to the Japanese American family to whom he belongs. We witness through the cat''s eyes the devastating condition of the camp as well as the sense of injustice he feels seeing his family go through this demoralizing experience. Young readers also share in the cat''s triumph over feelings of hopelessness and anger, as they witness the cat''s use of breathing and visualization exercises that help transport his creative mind to a place in his heart where he no longer feels encumbered and restrained, but self-empowered and free. Through the beautiful artwork of former internee, Jimmy Tsutomu Mirikitani, and the inclusion of therapeutic relaxation and visualization techniques, Child Psychologist Loriene Honda demonstrates how the imaginative mind can prove to be one''s most powerful tool in surpassing adversity.

"How did a 75-year old Star Trek actor become a social media juggernaut with nearly four million fans on Facebook? Why does everything he posts spread like wildfire across the ether, with tens to hundreds of thousands of likes and shares? And what can other sites, celebrities, brands and companies do to attain his stratospheric engagement levels, which hover near 100 percent while most languish in the single digits? In this candid, hilarious and informative book, Takei recounts his experiences on platforms such as Twitter, YouTube and Facebook, where fans and pundits alike have crowned him King. He muses about everything from the nature of viral sharing, to the taming of Internet trolls, to why Yoda, bacon and cats are such popular memes. Takei isn''t afraid to tell it likes he sees it, and to engage the reader just as he does his legions of fans. Both provokingly thoughtful and wickedly funny, Oh Myyy! captures and comments upon the quirky nature of our plugged-in culture. With Takei''s conversational yet authoritative style, peppered with some of his favorite images from the web, readers should be prepared to LOL, even as they can''t help but hear his words in their heads in that unmistakable, deep bass."--Back cover.