Book Review: Fan Fiction by Brent Spiner

Fan Fiction

by Brent Spiner (Spiner)

 

Having just finished Fan Fiction by Brent Spiner, I’m still trying to decide exactly what I think of it.

 

Spiner is the actor who played Data for seven seasons and four movies of Star Trek the Next Generation — the emotionless, gold-toned humanoid android who longed to be human. This novel is set in the Fall of 1991, during the filming of STNG’s fifth season. The main character is…Brent Spiner…who describes the process of creating the show, including numerous appearances of his fellow STNG actors (Patrick Stewart, Michael Dorn, LeVar Burton, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis). But at the same time, it’s a fictionalized account of Spiner being terrorized by an obsessive fan, who is sending him horrifying gifts and writing him rather threatening letters that have him fearing for his life. As we jump back-and-forth between explorations of how Spiner prepares for and plays Data, and his wild, surreal experiences working with two beautiful twins (one and FBI agent and the other a personal bodyguard) and a cop who wants to break into semi-autobiographical screenwriting, there are wild shifts in tone. Meanwhile, other obsessive fans are sending him letters that reveal they have psychoses of their own…or are they maybe all the same person, who is threatening him?

 

As a long-time fan of Star Trek the Next Generation, I loved his insider’s perspective on the idiosyncrasies of television production, and his introspection about a working actor’s life, and his working through some “issues” from his childhood and youth. But, even though the “obsessive fans” plot is “inspired by actual events”, a lot about that part of the book just felt too absurdly comical and over-the-top. As the novel’s subtitle says — this is a Mem-Noir, and there is a nice noirish feeling to part of the book. But if his real life was anything remotely close to how he portrays it here, I pity him. But there were moments, including an encounter with Dr. Oliver Sacks, and a group outing to see co-worker Patrick Stewart in his one-man Christmas Carol show, that were very emotional. In the end, I did enjoy Fan Fiction, but I just felt like it didn’t quite merge all of its diverse components completely. Your mileage may vary…

 

(If you like this pseudo-reality novel-telling style, you might like Bruce Campbell’s novel Make Love (the Bruce Campbell Way), in which he tells the story of an actor named Bruce Campbell who gets into various adventures while filming a movie.)

 

( publisher’s official Fan Fiction web page ) | ( Brent Spiner page on Wikipedia )

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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