In the original dustsheet. Black cloth spine with silver title. Red boards.

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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 was 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 the man and the myth.

Review: This book was amazing. I’ve been a diehard Star Trek fan for all my life. I’ve seen every episode of every series and every one of its movies. This book confirmed a suspicion I had for the longest time, namely, that Gene Roddenberry had hijacked way too much credit for everything. A Trekker may be tempted to hate the book on the basis that anything bad said about Gene is something bad said about Star Trek, but nothing could be farther from the truth. Star Trek was not the work of one god-like man. It was the masterpiece of many creative minds who have been unjustly forgotten. Giving due credit to all its creators is the way to truly honor Star Trek. Insisting that Roddenberry keep his sacred idol status is not only superfluous to Trek but detrimental to it. No doubt Roddenberry was gifted with a profound vision and deserves enormous credit for what he did do, but the extent to which he would slap his signature on other people’s work approached the outright criminal. Especially in his later years, he literally lost his mind through alcoholism and drug abuse of all sorts, making his family and colleagues miserable. It wasn’t the sort of forgivable genius temperament that produced good ideas either. Toward the end, Gene contributed some of the worst ideas of the franchise, largely responsible for the mediocrity of The Motion Picture and Next Generation’s rough beginning. It’s tempting for some to demand he retain his quasi-saint-like status, simply because that’s how it’s been … and it’s always easier honoring just one guy instead of the many others who deserve it. Surely, the Great Bird has been worshipped enough. It’s time for enlightenment. It’s time to put away the myth.