"In 2003, an independent film called The Room--starring and written, produced, directed by a mysteriously wealthy social misfit of indeterminate age and origin named Tommy Wiseau--made its disastrous debut in Los Angeles. Described by one reviewer as "like getting stabbed in the head," the six-million-dollar film earned a grand total of $1800 at the box office and closed after two weeks. Ten years later, The Room is an international cult phenomenon. Thousands of fans wait in line for hours to attend screenings complete with costumes, audience rituals, merchandising, and thousands of plastic spoons. In The Disaster Artist, actor Greg Sestero, Tommy's costar and longtime best friend, recounts the film's long, strange journey to infamy, unraveling mysteries for fans--who on earth is "Steven," and what's with that hospital on Guerrero Street?--as well as the question that plagues the uninitiated: how the hell did a movie this awful ever get made? But …
"In 2003, an independent film called The Room--starring and written, produced, directed by a mysteriously wealthy social misfit of indeterminate age and origin named Tommy Wiseau--made its disastrous debut in Los Angeles. Described by one reviewer as "like getting stabbed in the head," the six-million-dollar film earned a grand total of $1800 at the box office and closed after two weeks. Ten years later, The Room is an international cult phenomenon. Thousands of fans wait in line for hours to attend screenings complete with costumes, audience rituals, merchandising, and thousands of plastic spoons. In The Disaster Artist, actor Greg Sestero, Tommy's costar and longtime best friend, recounts the film's long, strange journey to infamy, unraveling mysteries for fans--who on earth is "Steven," and what's with that hospital on Guerrero Street?--as well as the question that plagues the uninitiated: how the hell did a movie this awful ever get made? But more than just a laugh-out-loud funny story about cinematic hubris, The Disaster Artist is also a great piece of narrative nonfiction, a portrait of a mysterious man who got past every road block in the Hollywood system to achieve success on his own terms. Written with a gimlet eye but an open heart, The Disaster Artist is the hilarious and inspiring story of a dream that just wouldn't die"--
As a longtime fan of The Room, I really enjoyed this book and learning more about it. I very highly recommend listening to the audiobook version so that you can enjoy almost non-stop impressions of Tommy W by Greg.
I knew this book would be hilarious and amazing just based on the facts I already knew about the making of "The Room," but what I didn't expect was that the author would have such a funny, deadpan writing style or that it would be such a genuinely empathetic character study of the fascinating person that is Tommy Wiseau. Author Greg Sestero is extraordinarily self-aware in examining his own part in the relationship, why he and Wiseau became friends, and why he agreed to star in "The Room." I highly recommend getting the audiobook (which I did) because Sestero does an excellent job of mimicking Wiseau's accent and weird speaking style, which adds a lot to the story.