Nerd Do Well

A Small Boy's Journey to Becoming a Big Kid

By: Simon Pegg

Narrated by: Simon Pegg

Abridged, 5 hours

Read by the author

The unique life story of one of the most talented and inventive comedians, the star of Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and Star Trek the movie.

Critic reviews

"When the hilarious Simon Pegg asked for a quote for his book, I said no." — Ricky Gervais

“Simon Pegg is the nerdiest nerd ever to nerd out about nerdiness. Read this hilarious book, nerd!” — Michael Ian Black, author of My Custom Van

“Nerd Do Well does the necessary job of telling Pegg’s story, but does so in an intimate manner.” — The Times (London)

"I read over 1 million books a year and this is the best book I have read in 15 years." — Kristen Wiig

“Hollywood’s go-to geek talks about the chronicle of his passage through the lower-lying lands of popular culture.” — Word magazine

“How did a geeky kid with a love of Star Wars end up a cult film hero working with Steven Spielberg? Simon Pegg reveals much more.” — The Observer

“An anthology of childhood milestones and film analysis, Pegg's book isn't your run-of-the-mill celebrity tell-all.” — Time.com

“Anyone over 13 who ever wrote middle-school-aged standup comedy, filmed stop-motion movies with their action figures, storyboarded Star Wars: Episode VII or mixed fake blood using corn syrup and food coloring will probably find a certain kinship with the writer of Nerd Do Well.” — Wired.com

“As promised in the title, Pegg lets his nerd flag fly, offering extended reflections on the inner workings of comedy and his own fannish obsessions. Sweet, funny and moving, Nerd Do Well is about what you’d expect from Simon Pegg. Yeah, it’s that good.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Nerd Do Well makes an ideal summer read. Pegg’s discourse on the merits and shortcomings of the Star Wars movies are worth the price of the book themselves. It’s everything that Patton Oswalt’s Zombie Spaceship Wasteland could have been but wasn’t.” — Examiner.com

“Overflowing with alarmingly bang-on analyses of geek/nerd iconography from the Enterprise to the Death Star to Comic-Con, the Pegg's Tale, so to speak, is the kind of personal history you wish all your four-color heroes would write but generally don't.” — Austin Chronicle

“A charming collection of stories” — Slate.com

Big Pegg fan, wanted a bit more.

Would you consider the audio edition of Nerd Do Well to be better than the print version?

Don't know, but it was read incredibly well by Pegg.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

I wish he had covered more, in more detail. His childhood tales are really engaging, colorfully told, and they are just the right length. However, once we get to more present-day, he doesn't divulge a heck of a lot, it's more broad strokes detail and some anecdotes. The fictional side-story of the book was ambitious and risky, but it mostly pays off.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

You Have Him Pegged

Any additional comments?

Wish this was at least 8 hours! Pegg is a top notch narrator.

Absolutely delightful

Lovely mixture of actual life experiences & nerdy exaggerations of the stories we create for ourselves. Moved along at a great pace. However, I wish it could've gone on & on!

Really enjoyable

A lovely listen.
A mix of quality stories with a brilliantly fun one about the hero that is Simon Pegg and his diamond chiselled chest! Loved it!

Thoroughly entertained it was a true delight

I was thoroughly entertained it was a true delight listening to Simon relate his story my can only imagine how much fun it would be to actually talk to him in a relaxed atmosphere person a person.

Brilliant

Not only very entertaining narration from the talented comedian/character actor, but very well written! His story is actually pretty inspirational as well as heartwarming and hilarious!