Gene Roddenberry: The Myth and the Man Behind "Star Trek"

By creating Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry changed the face of entertainment in America. Gene Roddenberry: The Myth and the Man Behind Star Trek explores an uncharted region: the complex and contradictory man behind the Star Trek phenomenon. This eye-opening biography fully and frankly reveals Gene Roddenberry - whose success enabled him to claim mythic status himself - and provides the first substantiated, behind-the-scenes story of how Star Trek got on the air, as well as why it went off. Included is a blow-by-blow description of the birth and development of Star Trek: The Next Generation. The world of Star Trek was envisioned as a future in which humanity rises above its weaknesses and interpersonal conflicts, in which racism and sexism do not exist, and decency and intelligence prevail. This vision touched a nerve in audiences around the world, and Roddenberry responded to their adoration. A man of arguably more ambition than talent, Roddenberry was adept at self-promotion. He worked to ensure that his name alone would become associated with Star Trek. In reality, the show was developed in collaboration with many talented people, and most of the series was written by others. A man who dreamed up a utopian universe free of human frailties, Roddenberry himself was beset by many. Indeed, the story of his life can be viewed as the story of an Enterprise betrayed. In private, Roddenberry was a compulsive womanizer, a fickle friend, and a heavy drinker. But he was also the ultimate storyteller, reinventing both himself and his past in order to create the persona in which the Star Trek audience so delighted. With a foreword by D. C. Fontana, and drawing from over 100 important sources, including Leonard Nimoy, Rick Berman, Harve Bennett, and Grant Tinker, Gene Roddenberry: The Myth and the Man Behind Star Trek is both authoritative and illuminating - and defines Roddenberry's real relationship to Star Trek's enduring magnificence. In the process, it explains both th… (more)