Reading Room Radio: Mem-Noir?

Celebrity, fan fiction, and Star Trek collide:  Beth shares how trippy a ride it can be when reading a "mem-noir".

Title: Fan Fiction: a Mem-noir Inspired by True Events

Author: Brent Spiner

Reviewed by: Beth K. 

Created by the Podcast Team at the Harris County Public Library.
www.hcpl.net

Podcast Team Members include: Beth Krippel, John Harbaugh, Mary Mink, Dylan Smith, Sadina Shawver, Alinda Mac, John Schaffer, Jennifer Finch, Katelyn Helberg, Darcy Casavant, Darla Pruitt and Nancy Hu 

Transcript

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Welcome to Harris County Public Library's Reading Room Radio, where your to-be red pile gets a little more exciting one micro podcast at a time. Hi, it's Beth, and today I'm going to talk about Brent Spiner's 2021 book, Fan Fiction, a MEM Noir, inspired by True Events. No, that wasn't an error. That's in the title of the book, Mem Noir, and it also sets the tone straight away. It isn't a memoir, not really. There are real people in it, real places, sort of real events, loosely tying it to reality. But Spiner takes those threads and weaves them into something that is unhinged. It is noir, in a way. There's a gritty, pulpy atmosphere that leans hard into the 1930s detective fiction tropes. Shadows, danger, obsession. It is almost fanfiction, with the unevenness that comes with those stories. You can feel the gleeful chaos of someone writing a version of themselves into their own story. It is all those things, jumbled up in an almost mockumentary, or I suppose in this case, a mock memoir? A mock mar? Spinal tap meets Star Trek meets 1930s gritty detective story. If that sentence made you laugh, this book might be for you. If it made you deeply confused, well, keep listening because it might still be for you. Big fans of Star Trek The Next Generation will get a kick out of it. Not because it gives you deep behind the scenes insight into the making of the show, it doesn't at all. But because you get a sense of Brent Spiner's personality. The man who played Data is funny, self-deprecating, and more than a little weird, in a good way. There's a winking quality to the whole thing, like he's been waiting decades to mess with you, and this book is it. Audiobook listeners in particular are in for a treat. The audiobook version features cameos from other well-known names who read as themselves, well, fictionalized versions of themselves. TNG favorites like Marina Seertis and Jonathan Frakes show up for a few lines, and there are other surprise voices I won't spoil. If you've ever wanted to hear the cast of the next generation leaning into a parody of their own celebrity, the audio version is it. Now, this book is a little hard to describe. In some ways it's pretty fun and a funny read. The meta humor is clever, and Spiner clearly had a blast writing it. But at other times, I was a bit uneasy. The language gets rough. There are moments that are gross and occasionally just well, a lot. The story has all the rough edges of something written with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. I would say pretty firmly that this is a book for readers 20 and up, and honestly, even that might be generous for some of the content. One's prefrontal cortex really does need to be fully developed before navigating certain chapters. It's not gratuitous for no reason. It's very much in service of the tone, but that tone is chaotic, irreverent, and sometimes deliberately uncomfortable. So my recommendation comes with caveat. Do not take this book seriously. It does not take itself seriously. And if you go in expecting a thoughtful Hollywood memoir, you will be confused and possibly annoyed. But if you go in expecting a strange, funny, self-aware romp through a fictionalized version of Brett Spiner's life, one that leans into its own absurdity, you will probably have a great time. So, have you read it? What did you think? Drop a comment, send a message, let me know. And always, thank you for listening.