Rod Serling: The Dreams and Nightmares of Life in the Twilight Zone: A Biography

I'm a professional writer, also, and I think that this biography does not rate the slams it has inexplicably received. The author claims that Serling was sued more than once for plagiarizing the works of other sci-fi writers, including the great Ray Bradbury. Engel does not castigate Serling for this. He points out that Serling was a voracious reader, the ultimate workaholic, who wrote approximately half of all Twilight Zone episodes (an amazing output). Engel feels that if Serling did plagiarize at times, he did so inadvertantly. Even one of the Twilight Zone's main contributors admits that writers such as Ray Bradbury left "big footprints" and that it was difficult was any sci-fi writer who came after him not to pick up some of his ideas. Case in point, the episode "Nothing in the Dark," featuring a very young Robert Redford as a wounded police officer calling out for help to the only person who can hear him--an old woman who has shut herself up in her apartment because she fears death and keeping the door close will keep death from catching her. She even orders her groceries and refuses to open the door until she's sure the delivery boy has left (in case death is coming in the guise of a delivery boy). Well, Bradbury wrote a short story that has exactly this premise, including the manner in which she gets her groceries. This is what Engel is referring to. Rod Serling was an incredibly gifted man, who had a winning personality. But, like anyone else, he had flaws and fears, and Engels addresses these. That's why this is called a b-i-o-g-r-a-p-h-y.

I was really looking forward to reading Rod Serling's bio although I admit I was expecting him to be a paragon of virtue, living up to the morality and principles he espoused on "The Twilight Zone." As it turns out, Serling, like most of us I suppose, was a flawed human being. This book seemed to be pretty thorough, discussing Serling's family, friends, associates, military service, career, etc. The good parts of his personality were discussed along with the not-so-good parts. This book would be a good choice for anyone wanting to know about the intimate details of Serling's life.