REVIEW:

I don’t smoke crack, although I must have been doing just that when I requested the opportunity to preview this book.

Fan Fiction is a “mem-noir” written by Brent Spiner - the guy best known for playing Data on “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” Have I ever watched an episode of ANY Star Trek? No. Then why did I feel like it was a good idea to read this? See above.

But commitments are commitments, so I dove in with an open mind. (Hopefully a crack-free one at this point.) The letter from the publisher that accompanied the print copy states, “Brent Spiner’s explosive and hilarious novel is a personal look at the slightly askew relationship between a celebrity and his fans. If the Coen Brothers were to make a Star Trek movie, involving the complexity of fan obsession and sci-fi, this noir comedy might just be the one.”

Okay then, so Fan Fiction is basically a self-indulgent fever dream in which Spiner fictionalizes a stalker experience he had in the early days of playing Data. Hence the “mem” part of mem-noir. The “noir” part is because it’s told in a darkly comedic fashion, complete with misogyny, F-bombs, uncomfortable sexual encounters, feverish drug use, and a pig’s penis. (Yes, a PIG’S PENIS. The darn thing is mentioned about 100 times, and that’s enough pig’s penis to last me a lifetime.)

In many ways this reminded me of Jim Carey’s disastrous 2020 “let me blur the lines between celebrity fact and fiction” book Memoirs and Misinformation, though Fan Fiction is more successful given its moments of lucid humor and coherent storytelling. (See the 2.94 GR rating for Carey’s M&M… yikes!!!)

Now the Fan Fiction AUDIOBOOK is something of its own experience. That’s right friends, I requested an advance copy of this not once but TWICE! Spiner is the primary narrator, but fellow Star Trek cast members such as Patrick Stewart, LeVar Burton, Jonathan Frakes, and Gates McFadden join in to read their own “lines.” (I had to look up half those people. See? Not a Star Trek fan. Although side note, I did once get assigned as LeVar Burton’s Studio escort down the step-and-repeat of the red carpet at the premiere of a late-90’s Disney movie. “Tarzan” maybe??? I introduced him as “LeVar Burton from Reading Rainbow” throughout the night, which got me a lot of strange looks. Further evidence of my lack of Trek-awareness, but I digress.)

Anyhoo, the audiobook also features sound effects and occasional music, so that’s cool. It’s a truly great production, which is what helped me settle at a comfortable 3-star rating. While I may not know Star Trek, I do know audiobooks, and Fan Fiction’s pulls out all the stops. And I’m 99.9% certain people who are actual fans of Spiner and his cohort will find this fiction a lot more fun than I did.

My thanks to St. Martin’s Press for the advance print copy and Macmillan Audio for the advance listening copy via NetGalley. (Please don’t disown me now… I love you guys!) I was just a wee bit tardy with this review, so Fan Fiction is OUT NOW.

PUBLISHER SYNOPSIS:

From Brent Spiner, who played the beloved Lieutenant Commander Data on “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” comes an explosive and hilarious autobiographical novel.

Brent Spiner’s explosive and hilarious novel is a personal look at the slightly askew relationship between a celebrity and his fans. If the Coen Brothers were to make a Star Trek movie, involving the complexity of fan obsession and sci-fi, this noir comedy might just be the one.

Set in 1991, just as “Star Trek: The Next Generation” has rocketed the cast to global fame, the young and impressionable actor Brent Spiner receives a mysterious package and a series of disturbing letters, that take him on a terrifying and bizarre journey that enlists Paramount Security, the LAPD, and even the FBI in putting a stop to the danger that has his life and career hanging in the balance.

Featuring a cast of characters from Patrick Stewart to Levar Burton to Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, to some completely imagined, this is the fictional autobiography that takes readers into the life of Brent Spiner and tells an amazing tale about the trappings of celebrity and the fear he has carried with him his entire life.

Fan Fiction is a zany love letter to a world in which we all participate, the phenomenon of “Fandom.”