Over at our favorite pop culture journal Hilobrow, there is a recently-completed collection of fascinating short essays called "Kirk Your Enthusiasm." Each essay focuses on one memorable scene featuring Captain Kirk, whether in the original series, the animated series, or the films (including an essay by yours truly about the Kirk/Spock smackdown in the JJ Abrams movie). Whether you love Kirk or feel passionately ambivalent about him, you need to check out these essays.
Here's the table of contents, just to whet your appetite (read them all here):
Justice or vengeance? by DAFNA PLEBAN
Kirk teaches his drill thrall to kiss by MARK KINGWELL
"KHAAAAAN!" by NICK ABADZIS
"No kill I" by STEPHEN BURT
Kirk browbeats NOMAD by GREG ROWLAND
Kirk's eulogy for Spock by ZACK HANDLEN
The joke is on Kirk by PEGGY NELSON
Kirk vs. Decker by KEVIN CHURCH
Good Kirk vs. Evil Kirk by ENRIQUE RAMIREZ
Captain Camelot by ADAM MCGOVERN
Koon-ut-kal-if-fee by FLOURISH KLINK
Federation exceptionalism by DAVID SMAY
Wizard fight by AMANDA LAPERGOLA
A million things you can't have by STEVE SCHNEIDER
Debating in a vacuum by JOSHUA GLENN
Klingon diplomacy by KELLY JEAN FITZSIMMONS
"We… the PEOPLE" by TRAV S.D.
Brinksmanship on the brink by MATTHEW BATTLES
Captain Smirk by ANNIE NOCENTI
Sisko meets Kirk by IAN W. HILL
Noninterference policy by GABBY NICASIO
Kirk's countdown by PETER BEBERGAL
Kirk's ghost by MATT GLASER
Watching Kirk vs. Gorn by JOE ALTERIO
How Spock wins by ANNALEE NEWITZ
Go check them out!