Whether Patrick Stewart knows it or not (I’m fairly sure he doesn’t) he’s been an essential part of my life since my formative teen years. He’s always been there in some form or another, and he’s helped me through a lot of tough times. A story he and his fellow castmates of that super popular science fiction show have heard a number of times.

But what did I really know about the man? Not just his performances but the mind behind them? Not much. But now, Sir Patrick opens up about his life, shares his stories and tells a good tale with Making It So, his memoir, being released through Simon & Schuster.

Stewart delivers his tale masterfully, nuanced with humour, joy and heartbreak, laying his life out in a narrative that we can only achieve when we look back on the paths we’ve taken. Stewart lets us into the corners of his life, taking us into the small family home, his choices, his failures and his triumphs, relating them in an open, honest way that makes the story, and the man, feel incredibly accessible, as if you could sidle up and share a coffee or drink with him, and pass the afternoon amiably, and come away realizing things about he and yourself that you never knew before.

As an actor, we often take what Stewart gives us on the screen or stage at face value, recognizing the talent at work there, but often conflating the man with the role he’s playing. He banishes that illusion from the beginning, grounding us in the reality that shaped and created him, the ambition that drove him, and the friends he’s gained along the way.

It is a life well-lived.

There will be a number of readers who pick this book up because of his time with Star Trek: The Next Generation and the character of Jean-Luc Picard. Stewart does share, but he doesn’t rehash a lot that is already out there, and the things fans already know. Instead, he speaks about all aspects of his life, and these glimpses into the soul of the man, the fear, drive, and need we see in ourselves that allow the connection between reader and storyteller to flourish. Though I’m hoping Paramount succumbs to his gentle pushing about a Picard film.

Stewart never strings the stories along, he tells them in a straightforward way, making them captivating, and interesting, and he’s very much not afraid to be self-effacing.

I loved this look into the man’s life, his career, and the journey he has found himself on. It’s as engaging as anything he’s put on screen or stage, and it’s all the more personal because it’s his story in his words. I delight in his friendship with Ian McKellan, learned things I never knew – imagine working with Brian Blessed when they were both teenagers! And discovering who you are, working with the best, setting and achieving goals, and finding love. Make it so, Sir Patrick, make it so.

Making It So is available now from Simon & Schuster, and I couldn’t put it down.