Strange and Amazing Facts About Star Trek

by Daniel Cohen

A trivia book with quizzes and photos

Genres: Star Trek, Nonfiction, Reference, Trivia, Tv, Pop Culture, Media Tie In

113 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 1, 1986

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Daniel Edward Cohen was born on March 12, 1936, in Chicago, Illinois. His parents divorced when he was very young and his mother, Sue Greenberg, married Milton Cohen, a veteran of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. Daniel Cohen attended Chicago public schools and was a "hanger-on" in the bohemian community around the University of Chicago while in high school in the early 1950s. He attended the University of Illinois at Chicago where he abandoned an interest in biology for journalism. He graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a degree in journalism in 1958. Cohen married Susan Handler, a writer, on February 2, 1958. He briefly worked as a proofreader for Time, Inc. in Chicago; but, demoralized by the paternalistic organizational culture, he took a job as assistant editor of Science Digest magazine in 1959. He was transferred to New York City shortly after being hired.

In addition to his editorial work, Cohen wrote articles for Science Digest and for other publications. Encouraged by praise of his articles on paranormal subjects, Cohen published his first book, Myths of the Space Age, a collection of skeptical essays on paranormal creatures and phenomena, in 1967. The Cohens moved to a farmhouse in Forestburgh, New York, in 1969 so Daniel could write full time. He originally planned to write popular science books, but the demands of the market led him to concentrate on books about ghosts, monsters, UFOs, and psychic phenomena. Since then, Daniel Cohen has written on an astonishing variety of subjects beyond just the paranormal: historical and current biographies; advice for teenagers; world history; science and technology; animals and nature; urban legends; and popular television, music, film, and sports personalities. He has noted that he writes mass-market paperbacks for children who are reluctant to read and not especially gifted. Thus, he chooses subjects of interest to such readers.

Susan Cohen was born on March 27, 1938, in Chicago, Illinois, to Martin and Ida (Goldman) Handler. She earned a B.A. degree from the New School for Social Research in 1960 and an M.S.W. degree from Adelphi University in Garden City, New York, in 1962. She worked as a social worker in the mid-1960s before writing The Liberated Couple, a feminist tract, in 1971. She wrote eleven gothic romances and mysteries under the penname Elizabeth St. Clair between 1974 and 1981. Susan and Daniel Cohen began collaborating on books in 1982 to help alleviate Daniel's workload. They have written books primarily on popular entertainment, advice for teenagers, and animals. The Cohens currently live in Cape May Court House, New Jersey.

Reviews

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

Out of date (written before Star Trek IV was released in theaters) but competent otherwise. I would have given it another star but he called Klingons, "ugly."

[Reesha · Rating 3 out of 5]

1.25 stars for an adult. Probably 3.25 for a properly aged child.

Certainly better than the previous by this author, The Monsters of Star Trek. It's at its best in the first half where it talks about the characters, actors, and history of Star Trek. It falls apart midway when, like the previous book, it starts recounting the plots of episodes, mostly at random and without making an associated point.

Toward the end, it came back together again, and made for an altogether "okay" read on a lazy Saturday morning. The quiz at the end was a bit of fun.

There's nothing here for long-time fans of the series, and really not much of anything for grown-ups, either. It's definitely for kids - I could imagine maybe an 11 year old enjoying it - so I'm hardly the target audience. Just a Virgo with a completionism problem.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting only as an artifact of pre-ST IV and TNG. Otherwise the writing is simplistic/cheap. It's not bad, but not really even "good".
My 8-12 year old self probably would have enjoyed it. Two-stars (it was ok).

[Rohan Kalia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some very interesting and some not so interesting trivia about The Original Series. More than the text, it's the format itself which is fun to read, almost like a '80s version of YouTube behind the scenes.

The last chapter about the fans was the most interesting.

[Chris Carter · Rating 1 out of 5]

The facts included in this book are neither Strange nor Amazing. Anyone who knows anything about Star Trek will learn practically nothing from this book.

[Tracy Poff · Rating 1 out of 5]

Cohen's book contains facts about Star Trek, but there's nothing strange or amazing therein. The facts are mostly in the form of very brief summaries of a few episodes or (similarly very brief) biographies of a few principal actors. Almost everything in the book will be known to anyone who bothered to watch the show ("When the series begins Kirk is in his mid-thirties, and holds the rank of captain with a starship command."), and the little that might not be is generally of little interest ("Another of Bill Shatner's current enthusiasms is the horses that he rides and breeds on his southern California ranch.").

The most interesting part of this book is the chapter on the fans, which talks about the letter-writing campaign to save Star Trek from cancellation, fanzines, conventions, and the broader impact of Star Trek in the years since its cancellation.

The book concludes with a 22-question trivia quiz.

Stephen E. Whitfield's The Making of Star Trek is by far this book's superior, and even Wikipedia is more informative.

[Renee Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an ok read for a person who is not that familiar with Star Trek. However, for the one with extensive knowledge about the franchise, the book contains little if any strange or amazing facts. There is a quiz at the end of the book which is elementary in nature and basically is a review of the contents of the book. If you don't know anything about Star Trek, this is a basic foundation on the series and the actors. If you are interested in something with a little more meat on the bones then you might want to pass this one by.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 1 out of 5]

OK...I'm going to be charitable. IF you are (1) extremely young, (2) an extremely...and dated...newcomer to the "Star Trek" original series universe, (3) suffering from an ice-pick sticking out of the middle of your forehead...then you will find this a useful, slightly-entertaining, VERY BRIEF read. If you are none of the above categories, donate your copy of this book to a local Value Village store.

[Indika de Silva · Rating 2 out of 5]

The following book is a standard Star Trek Trivia book that contains information about the Original Series and few of the first movies.

It is good for a very novice fan of the series but it was certainly a fun read. I breezed through the book going "I knew that" at each page.

If you are hardcore TOS fan or some interested in Star Trek this is the book for you. I basically needed to small book to hide in my trouser pockets that could be read when I was falling asleep during lectures.

[Tony Laplume · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published in 1986, the same year Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home was released, this is basically a brief history and primer on Star Trek lore. Any fan will know this stuff pretty well already, but the author's presentation is concise and highlights perhaps the elements that fans who watched later incarnations will appreciate most.

[Jeff Wyonch · Rating 2 out of 5]

Before we had the internet or blogs, people were paid to write short books about popular subjects, and we bought them in droves at supermarkets and drug stores across North America. Nothing to write home about, but it was a fun, quick read.

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

the best of the Cohen books I've read. All are fairly short books, mainly meant for younger readers, I guess. But this one had some interesting stuff I didn't know.

[Ed Wyrd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many of the facts aren't so strange or amazing, but then the book was published in 1986. It's still a quick, interesting read.