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1.07k reviews for:
The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made
Greg Sestero
4.29 AVERAGE
1.07k reviews for:
The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made
Greg Sestero
4.29 AVERAGE
funny
fast-paced
The audiobook is almost a requirement for Sestero's almost mesmerizing Tommy impression.
This book only left me with more questions. Tommy Wiseau claims to be a vampire, and honestly he might be. Sestero wrote nothing that conflicts with that statement, and instead support it (ludicrous clothing styles? Strange hair? Nocturnal hours? Secretive? From Eastern Europe? Possible real estate mogul? That's just basically Dracula).
The Disaster Artist is a fascinating look into a movie so famous for being bad it's a cult legend, and I got many strange looks from fellow train commuters from the snorting I was doing trying to contain laughter. And yet...it's all still mysterious. There are hints about the man Wiseau really is, in which case he's a bit of a tragic figure. But then it takes him 32 takes to say "I did not hit her I did not" and it's hard to take him seriously again.
Sestero wrote a better book than I was expecting, and I was surprised at how well he treats Wiseau in this book. But that makes it no less entertaining. Everything leading up to the premiere of The Room is a fascinating, twisted story, and if you've seen the movie and wondered "How did this get made," then, well...you'll almost get answers here.
Almost.
The Disaster Artist is a fascinating look into a movie so famous for being bad it's a cult legend, and I got many strange looks from fellow train commuters from the snorting I was doing trying to contain laughter. And yet...it's all still mysterious. There are hints about the man Wiseau really is, in which case he's a bit of a tragic figure. But then it takes him 32 takes to say "I did not hit her I did not" and it's hard to take him seriously again.
Sestero wrote a better book than I was expecting, and I was surprised at how well he treats Wiseau in this book. But that makes it no less entertaining. Everything leading up to the premiere of The Room is a fascinating, twisted story, and if you've seen the movie and wondered "How did this get made," then, well...you'll almost get answers here.
Almost.
Really quite incredible, absorbing from the get go, hilarious as all get out. The chapters alternate between the "current" battle of actually filming the best worst movie ever "The Room" and Greg and Tommy's personal backstories and shared history leading up to the filming of the flick. Insightful, with humor and pathos in nearly every paragraph. Greg and Tom Bissell really created something engaging here, speaking on existential matters that both Hollywood insiders/The Room fanatics and the average dreamer can relate to and chew on. I read this book after seeing the recent James Franco movie "The Disaster Artist" and I'm glad I did; while I enjoyed the performances and the accurate execution in that movie, the details in this book are ten fold and truly reveal something deeper than a mere goofy character study. I highly recommend this book to anyone unsure of their dreams and professional aspirations, or really, anybody who has needed a friend or took iniative to be a friend to someone else who needed one.
funny
medium-paced
I’ve loved the cult of The Room since high school and I sort of avoided reading this for a while, worrying it might diminish some of the magic. I shouldn’t have worried.
Just a few pages in I was already crying from laughing so hard, and at the same time was getting drawn into the intrigue around Tommy’s mysterious past, and the yin and yang of Greg’s reflective self-doubt and Tommy’s indomitable vision. By the end you arrive, improbably, at a sensitive emotional core—acknowledging Johnny’s faults while admiring his bravery. The memoir has a non-linear structure that really worked for me, and the audiobook is even read by Greg (Mark) who does just as good of a Tommy impression as James Franco. A number of the acting references went over my head and the ending is a little abrupt (or maybe I was just expecting to read about Tommy’s reaction to the screening, like you see in the film adaptation?). Regardless, this was first-class non-fiction about one of the most remarkable stories in Hollywood and I’d recommend it to anyone, even if you’re a Wiseau newbie.
Just a few pages in I was already crying from laughing so hard, and at the same time was getting drawn into the intrigue around Tommy’s mysterious past, and the yin and yang of Greg’s reflective self-doubt and Tommy’s indomitable vision. By the end you arrive, improbably, at a sensitive emotional core—acknowledging Johnny’s faults while admiring his bravery. The memoir has a non-linear structure that really worked for me, and the audiobook is even read by Greg (Mark) who does just as good of a Tommy impression as James Franco. A number of the acting references went over my head and the ending is a little abrupt (or maybe I was just expecting to read about Tommy’s reaction to the screening, like you see in the film adaptation?). Regardless, this was first-class non-fiction about one of the most remarkable stories in Hollywood and I’d recommend it to anyone, even if you’re a Wiseau newbie.
What a story, Greg.
It all started when Nataly suggested we watch The Disaster Artist one day. Naturally, we had to watch The Room first, I insisted. How young I was. How innocent. Having seen Manos: The Hands of Fate, and watched countless hours of MST3K, I thought I knew bad movies. I was so wrong. Seven billion years later, after frequent breaks to collect ourselves and reassemble our brains, we finished The Room, and I immediately started this book because I needed something, anything, to explain what I had just witnessed and how it came to be.
This book, while entertaining and oddly touching, doesn't quite manage that (I doubt anything could), but it's as close as most of us will probably get to understanding the mind of one Tommy P. Wiseau. I might have more to say after my Chem exam, although history suggests I'll never get around to saying it. And we later watched the movie based on this book, which was entertaining, funny, and appropriately terrifying, but took too many (imo) unnecessary liberties with the source material while leaving out some bonkers stuff. But then I pretty much always say that about movie adaptations.
If you've seen The Room, you should read this book. If you want to read this book, you should probably watch The Room first. I'm sorry, and you're welcome.
It all started when Nataly suggested we watch The Disaster Artist one day. Naturally, we had to watch The Room first, I insisted. How young I was. How innocent. Having seen Manos: The Hands of Fate, and watched countless hours of MST3K, I thought I knew bad movies. I was so wrong. Seven billion years later, after frequent breaks to collect ourselves and reassemble our brains, we finished The Room, and I immediately started this book because I needed something, anything, to explain what I had just witnessed and how it came to be.
This book, while entertaining and oddly touching, doesn't quite manage that (I doubt anything could), but it's as close as most of us will probably get to understanding the mind of one Tommy P. Wiseau. I might have more to say after my Chem exam, although history suggests I'll never get around to saying it. And we later watched the movie based on this book, which was entertaining, funny, and appropriately terrifying, but took too many (imo) unnecessary liberties with the source material while leaving out some bonkers stuff. But then I pretty much always say that about movie adaptations.
If you've seen The Room, you should read this book. If you want to read this book, you should probably watch The Room first. I'm sorry, and you're welcome.
Far more poignant than I ever imagined it would be, this book ends up being equal parts hilarious behind-the-scenes of the best worst movie ever; touching tale of friendship; and, fascinating character study of a truly bizarre yet endearing man.