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A Long Time Ago: Growing Up With And Out Of Star Wars
"A Long Time Ago is a wonderful look back on growing up with Star Wars...Van Ert [has] written a great little memoir about life as a boy with Star Wars and his trials as an adult with his boyhood fascination." – Wired.com
Some time in the summer of 1977, sitting in the back seat of a borrowed station wagon at the only drive-in in town, Gib van Ert saw the first ninety minutes of a film that changed his world—and the world in general—forever. Then he fell asleep. So began a torrid thirty-five-year love affair with Star Wars, complete with infatuation, lust, devotion, jealousy, betrayal, despair, separation and reconciliation.
In A Long Time Ago: Growing Up With And Out Of Star Wars, van Ert describes how Star Wars captivated his imagination as a boy, broke his heart as a young man, and is foisting itself upon him again today through fatherhood. At once a personal memoir and a reflection on the shared experience of a generation, A Long Time Ago explores Star Wars fandom with equal parts humour and thoughtfulness, nostalgia and regret.
Some time in the summer of 1977, sitting in the back seat of a borrowed station wagon at the only drive-in in town, Gib van Ert saw the first ninety minutes of a film that changed his world—and the world in general—forever. Then he fell asleep. So began a torrid thirty-five-year love affair with Star Wars, complete with infatuation, lust, devotion, jealousy, betrayal, despair, separation and reconciliation.
In A Long Time Ago: Growing Up With And Out Of Star Wars, van Ert describes how Star Wars captivated his imagination as a boy, broke his heart as a young man, and is foisting itself upon him again today through fatherhood. At once a personal memoir and a reflection on the shared experience of a generation, A Long Time Ago explores Star Wars fandom with equal parts humour and thoughtfulness, nostalgia and regret.
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First published August 14, 2012
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About the author
Gib Van Ert
7 books5 followersGib van Ert is a lawyer and father in Vancouver, British Columbia. His blog, This Sort of Thing: Star Wars For Men Old Enough To Know Better, is at http://thissortofthing.com.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
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January 8, 2021No rating bc research, but some truly awful takes in this, made me mad at times
September 11, 2013
Gib took a very popular franchise and put it into terms that most of those in my/his/our generation (born in the mid 70s) could relate to. In fact, I'd go so far as to say he made Star Wars 'tangible' through his discussion on how he grew up with it, including the collectibles, the freaky coolness of seeing a light saber for the first time, and forming friendships early on in childhood around such a ground breaking development in the genre of science fiction.
Star Wars really did change the world - the science fiction world, that is - and this book helps you see how, through the eyes of a boy just trying to understand what it all meant.
Highly recommend.
Star Wars really did change the world - the science fiction world, that is - and this book helps you see how, through the eyes of a boy just trying to understand what it all meant.
Highly recommend.
February 24, 2013
A thoroughly entertaining read that brought back many of my own childhood memories of the original Star Wars trilogy.
It is an easy, enjoyable read, written in a nice flowing style. The book is mostly about the author's childhood and growing up with the original trilogy but does cover the prequel trilogy albeit too briefly in my opinion but I guess there was less to say. I did find myself agreeing with his sentiments on the prequels although I am more forgiving of their flaws.
It will be interesting to see if Gib will update with the new films coming after the Disney takeover, I am sure if he does it will be well worth reading.
It is an easy, enjoyable read, written in a nice flowing style. The book is mostly about the author's childhood and growing up with the original trilogy but does cover the prequel trilogy albeit too briefly in my opinion but I guess there was less to say. I did find myself agreeing with his sentiments on the prequels although I am more forgiving of their flaws.
It will be interesting to see if Gib will update with the new films coming after the Disney takeover, I am sure if he does it will be well worth reading.
November 3, 2012
This is the story of the author and his obsession with Star Wars while he was growing up. It brought back a lot of memories for me because we were about the same age when the original Star Wars movies came out. My only quibble with the book is that the author feels Star Wars was mostly a guy thing. All I know is that I loved playing with my Star Wars action figures when I ws a kid and I never thought of them as a boy or girl toy. Anyhoo, I do recommend this book. I read the Kindle edition, which was free as of yesterday.
December 25, 2014
I heard about this book on Twitter, I think via Cory Doctorow's feed. This book transported me back in time. Thank you for writing it! I am slightly older than the author, and clearly remember standing in line with my father to see the original Star Wars. I lost my way too as I got older but have re-found Star Wars in my 40's and am a shameless fan. Like the author, the prequels were a huge disappointment, and I too am turned off by the marketing machine that is Disney/Star Wars. That said, I think the new Rebels series is pretty cool and have sent many hours on the treadmill watching the very average Clone Wars on Netflix.
It is getting worse. I have not spent so much time since my teens in this universe. I am revisiting those old Marvel comics (thanks humble Bundle!) and have several toy light sabers in my office and an ever present sense of the force in my life. The only games I have been playing lately on my phone is something called Star Wars Force Collection where all sorts of odd characters live in, and level up in a odd card collecting Star Wars verdin of essentially, Solitaire.
What absolutely shocked me in this book was the bit about using his blanket with the action figures to create his own terrain and new stories. I did this regularly with my younger brother, creating mashups of Han Solo partnering up with Ben Kenobi and sometimes a needy Grand Moff Tarkin to go on unique adventures to fight plastic dinosaurs and the occasional GI Joe character. I even had a Star Wars blanket and sheets, which of course meant that our players featured Star Wars art as well, what a long lost memory. If you are the right age and loved Star Wars as a kid, this book is worth the price of admission.
It is getting worse. I have not spent so much time since my teens in this universe. I am revisiting those old Marvel comics (thanks humble Bundle!) and have several toy light sabers in my office and an ever present sense of the force in my life. The only games I have been playing lately on my phone is something called Star Wars Force Collection where all sorts of odd characters live in, and level up in a odd card collecting Star Wars verdin of essentially, Solitaire.
What absolutely shocked me in this book was the bit about using his blanket with the action figures to create his own terrain and new stories. I did this regularly with my younger brother, creating mashups of Han Solo partnering up with Ben Kenobi and sometimes a needy Grand Moff Tarkin to go on unique adventures to fight plastic dinosaurs and the occasional GI Joe character. I even had a Star Wars blanket and sheets, which of course meant that our players featured Star Wars art as well, what a long lost memory. If you are the right age and loved Star Wars as a kid, this book is worth the price of admission.
August 17, 2013
This was a pretty breezy fun read. I enjoyed the trip down memory lane and am impressed by how much DETAIL Van Ert remembers about everything (his toys, his emotions, etc). That helped jog my own memory and feelings about Star Wars.
The one thing that irked me about the book is the (what I felt) constant "Star Wars is for boys" thread. Now, I don't think he's saying that girls can't play with Star Wars figures, but that it wasn't HIS experience of Star Wars. However, the book ends with him telling his daughter about Star Wars and her really liking the story. I just wish he hadn't kept mentioning it in the book. Because .. well, who cares - you enjoyed it and had great memories; some girls do too. Why even comment on that? Maybe I'm being sensitive.
Because aside from the above, Van Ert is a good story teller and had some interesting experiences that I enjoyed reading about. In particular, he talks about visiting grandparents in Dallas, Texas as a youth - and the trips from air-conditioned car to air-conditioned mall. That brought back my own memories of Texas. I really appreciated that about Van Ert's writing - his gift for sharing and recalling memory.
The one thing that irked me about the book is the (what I felt) constant "Star Wars is for boys" thread. Now, I don't think he's saying that girls can't play with Star Wars figures, but that it wasn't HIS experience of Star Wars. However, the book ends with him telling his daughter about Star Wars and her really liking the story. I just wish he hadn't kept mentioning it in the book. Because .. well, who cares - you enjoyed it and had great memories; some girls do too. Why even comment on that? Maybe I'm being sensitive.
Because aside from the above, Van Ert is a good story teller and had some interesting experiences that I enjoyed reading about. In particular, he talks about visiting grandparents in Dallas, Texas as a youth - and the trips from air-conditioned car to air-conditioned mall. That brought back my own memories of Texas. I really appreciated that about Van Ert's writing - his gift for sharing and recalling memory.
July 8, 2014
Gib Van Ert's memoir does an excellent job, weaving in his personal passion for Star Wars with a brief history of its foray into action figures, holiday specials, and comic books. Being a fan since the first film, Van Ert makes the conflict between generations from the very same fandom easy for both Jedi-savy and unfamiliar readers alike. It's a quick read, but one filled with minute details and a narrative where Van Ert both loves and questions his passion for Star Wars from youth to adulthood.
March 13, 2013
A brisk read on one man's youth with Star Wars. van Ert's life parallels a lot of peoples, and there are some gems in here, but there's just not much here.
It's brief and can be summed up as "Liked Star Wars, Got older, didn't like Star Wars anymore, became lawyer, had family. Will family like Star Wars?"
I might have been more interested in his time as a parliamentary intern for a BQ MP. Perhaps we will see a Stuart McLean for middle aged ex-geeks. van Ert isn't quite it.
It's brief and can be summed up as "Liked Star Wars, Got older, didn't like Star Wars anymore, became lawyer, had family. Will family like Star Wars?"
I might have been more interested in his time as a parliamentary intern for a BQ MP. Perhaps we will see a Stuart McLean for middle aged ex-geeks. van Ert isn't quite it.
May 16, 2013
This is a beautifully written book - touching, and very funny. For anyone whose childhood was shaped by George Lucas, before the dark times. It will bring back many happy memories for any fan, and have you saying, "Oh, I remember that!" over and over again throughout the book. A treasure trove for Star Wars fans.
January 13, 2014
A sweet and short read, and sure to strike a chord with anyone who first encountered Star Wars as a child.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews