Fan Fiction: A Mem-Noir Inspired by True Events by Brent Spiner

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

Everyone knows that fans can be a bit obsessive—some a LOT obsessive.  After all, “fan” is short for fanatic.  This autobiographical novel is set in the early days of Star Trek: The Next Generation fandom, when Spiner’s character Data became a sensation. While being a fan favorite could be a good thing, it can also be a bad thing:  as when someone claiming to be the fictional daughter of the equally fictional Data sends a grotesque and alarming package to “Daddy”—and seems bent on inflicting grievous bodily harm.

Understandably alarmed, Spiner contacts Paramount security with, um, less than reassuring results.   Soon even the FBI is involved as well as other security personnel—including maybe identical twin sisters.

I am a casual fan of Next Generation; my attachment was more to the original series, but even so I was curious to see how this book would play out.  Star Trek fans are legendary for their devotion but also for their fanaticism, so I was curious to see how those traits played out in this book. (William Shatner famously had opinions on Saturday Night Live.)

And the answer is very well.  Even though Spiner depicts more than one unhinged fan, he doesn’t treat it as the norm.  He also pokes a little good natured fun at some of his co-stars, but the genuine affection between them is obvious, something that would do any fan’s heart good. Gene Roddenberry also makes an appearance.

Aside from the fannish aspects, Spiner also tells a lot about the abusive relationship he had with his stepfather, and how hard it was growing up in that household.  The rest of the tone is rather absurdist, with Spiner having a sense of unreality about it all. 

There were a lot of glowing reviews about this book, but for me it was just okay.  Thinking back on it, I believe if I had heard the book instead of reading it I might have found it funnier.  Spiner does say that he had told the story to several people, all of whom insisted he needed to write this down.  I think that might have been the difference:  actually hearing the inflections might have changed my impression of some of the passages.  For instance, I much prefer to hear David Sedaris read his work than to just read the books: some passages that seem severe in cold hard print are rendered sly and amusing by the author’s tone.

Fans should definitely pick this up, but non-fans will enjoy a glimpse behind the scenes of the The Next Generation.