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microwavedchicken454's review
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing
lausbiana's review against another edition
2.0
Al principio me entretuvo, pero en las últimas 100 páginas estaba ya deseando que se acabara porque era muy repetitivo: Tommy es raro y Greg tiene vergüenza ajena, luego se gasta otros 8997 dolares en alguna tontería y la película no avanza. Bah.
christopherc's review against another edition
3.0
In 2002 a mysterious and eccentric California man named Tommy Wiseau, with a thick foreign accent and access to an inexplicable fortune, created what is widely regarded as one of the very best bad movies in cinematic history: The Room. Wiseau not only bankrolled, produced and directed this absolutely ridiculous, bizarre and continuity error-riddled film, he also starred in it as the main character, Johnny. The supporting role in the film, Johnny’s best friend, was played by Greg Sestero, a former male model and a young man trying to make it as an actor. The Disaster Artist is Sestero’s account of how this horrible movie was made. But Sestero had already been a friend of Wiseau for five years by the time the film was made, and the book also tries to piece together’s Wiseau’s biography.
Though Greg Sestero reports his own experiences through The Disaster Artist, the book is also credited to a cowriter who had been widely acclaimed for his previous works and probably did most (if not all) of the writing here: Tom Bissell. In fact, the book is pretty well structured and Bissell knows how to keep the reader turning pages to see what’s next. The storytelling mainly proceeds through alternating chapters, with odd chapters discussing the day-to-day drama of shooting the film, and even chapters going back to describe Sestero’s peculiar friendship with Wiseau after meeting him in a San Francisco acting class in 1998. I also appreciated Sestero’s accounts of trying to make it in Hollywood, with all the encouragements and disappointments he experienced. Wiseau, mistakenly believing that Sestero was doing very well for himself, became very jealous.
The book leads up to a climax around 70% of the way through where Sestero lays out everything known, and sometimes self-contradictory, about Wiseau’s early years in Eastern Europe, France, and the United States, and where his millions of dollars came from. The reader will encounter hints of dark chapters in Wiseau’s life (male prostitution? the charity of a homosexual sugar daddy?), but Sestero avoids speculating much, whether out of fear of a libel suit or simple respect for a man he still considers a friend. The book ends with the film’s premiere night, though I think many readers would have appreciated an epilogue about how the cult of The Room took off and how Sestero felt seeing a bad movie become a major gain for him.
The attempt at a Wiseau biography ultimately raises more questions than it answers, and the book has now been superseded by some online resources that have revealed more of Wiseau’s past. Still, fans of The Room will appreciate this book as it explains so many of the baffling aspects of the film, such as the photos of spoons surrounding the characters, why Johnny laughs unsettlingly upon hearing about a woman being beaten, and of course “You are tearing me apart, Lisa!”
Though Greg Sestero reports his own experiences through The Disaster Artist, the book is also credited to a cowriter who had been widely acclaimed for his previous works and probably did most (if not all) of the writing here: Tom Bissell. In fact, the book is pretty well structured and Bissell knows how to keep the reader turning pages to see what’s next. The storytelling mainly proceeds through alternating chapters, with odd chapters discussing the day-to-day drama of shooting the film, and even chapters going back to describe Sestero’s peculiar friendship with Wiseau after meeting him in a San Francisco acting class in 1998. I also appreciated Sestero’s accounts of trying to make it in Hollywood, with all the encouragements and disappointments he experienced. Wiseau, mistakenly believing that Sestero was doing very well for himself, became very jealous.
The book leads up to a climax around 70% of the way through where Sestero lays out everything known, and sometimes self-contradictory, about Wiseau’s early years in Eastern Europe, France, and the United States, and where his millions of dollars came from. The reader will encounter hints of dark chapters in Wiseau’s life (male prostitution? the charity of a homosexual sugar daddy?), but Sestero avoids speculating much, whether out of fear of a libel suit or simple respect for a man he still considers a friend. The book ends with the film’s premiere night, though I think many readers would have appreciated an epilogue about how the cult of The Room took off and how Sestero felt seeing a bad movie become a major gain for him.
The attempt at a Wiseau biography ultimately raises more questions than it answers, and the book has now been superseded by some online resources that have revealed more of Wiseau’s past. Still, fans of The Room will appreciate this book as it explains so many of the baffling aspects of the film, such as the photos of spoons surrounding the characters, why Johnny laughs unsettlingly upon hearing about a woman being beaten, and of course “You are tearing me apart, Lisa!”
bath_soap's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
bks37's review against another edition
4.0
This was an amazing audiobook; read by the Author and chief character - Greg Sestero. It is also incredibly niche. If you've never seen The Room, then this book is not for you. In fact, I'd say if you haven't seen it multiple times, with at least one of those being in a theater filled with people ready to riff it, then do that first too. You need to be intimately familiar with the movie to fully take out everything Greg put in to this book. Having met all of those criteria, I loved this. Greg's life story is necessary to understanding, in a weird way, just how Tommy Wiseau took it upon himself to create the best-worst movie ever made. It was Tommy's intense jealousy and insecurity and loneliness that drove him to glomming on to Greg and forcing their lives to try and match up. And the reason you need the audiobook version is that Greg does an amazing Tommy impression throughout. Reading text on a page could never do justice to Tommy's implacable accent and cadence that Greg provided. It breathed so much color into this period of time in Greg's life that pushes this book up to a five star for me.
I liked equally the scenes of Greg's acting career/meeting Tommy and the cuts to the behind the scenes of the making of The Room. The latter is what I was here for, though the former is what drew me in. There's so much complicated emotions and ambitions in those sections that drives home how tough Hollywood can be to any and all wannabe actors/actresses. And it gives the book heart and stakes as we see the entire arc of Tommy from struggling improv class to "real Hollywood director." And then we get the fun bits of breaking down the set of the movie. I always like seeing the behind the scenes stuff like that. How they did certain shots, why they did certain shots and even stories from the filming days. Sometimes I felt like Greg tried to paint himself out of certain creative decisions, but its his book and I understand. My reading of things makes him seem like he didn't do a whole lot of pushing back to some of Tommy's wilder ideas.
Last thing I'll say about this is that I really don't think this needed a movie adaptation of it's own. I've seen the Disaster Artist and don't think it added anything to this. In fact, it leaves out so much that I'm not sure they understood the assignment in adaptation. It clearly became some actors having fun recreating scenes from a movie I'm sure they enjoy to watch and mock with the rest of us. But it's one of those things where we have The Room, and we have this book and I don't think we needed a third piece of media going over this same topic.
I liked equally the scenes of Greg's acting career/meeting Tommy and the cuts to the behind the scenes of the making of The Room. The latter is what I was here for, though the former is what drew me in. There's so much complicated emotions and ambitions in those sections that drives home how tough Hollywood can be to any and all wannabe actors/actresses. And it gives the book heart and stakes as we see the entire arc of Tommy from struggling improv class to "real Hollywood director." And then we get the fun bits of breaking down the set of the movie. I always like seeing the behind the scenes stuff like that. How they did certain shots, why they did certain shots and even stories from the filming days. Sometimes I felt like Greg tried to paint himself out of certain creative decisions, but its his book and I understand. My reading of things makes him seem like he didn't do a whole lot of pushing back to some of Tommy's wilder ideas.
Last thing I'll say about this is that I really don't think this needed a movie adaptation of it's own. I've seen the Disaster Artist and don't think it added anything to this. In fact, it leaves out so much that I'm not sure they understood the assignment in adaptation. It clearly became some actors having fun recreating scenes from a movie I'm sure they enjoy to watch and mock with the rest of us. But it's one of those things where we have The Room, and we have this book and I don't think we needed a third piece of media going over this same topic.
sophie_taylor's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
martawess's review against another edition
5.0
A captivating document of one of Hollywood's weirdest films, and the bizarre mastermind behind it all, Tommy Wiseau. Greg Sestero's unique behind the scenes perspective provides for some gut-busting anecdotes, while bringing a human element to Wiseau that I had never considered. I recommend this to anyone remotely interested in The Room, and the weirdly wonderful culture surrounding the best-worst movie there is.
monitos's review against another edition
4.0
From the first time I watched The Room -drunk, in a shared apartment with some friends- until now, it has become my most watched movie ever. Everyone who has watched it should know why.
After reading this book and watching its film adaptation (which I also highly recommend, by the way) I just can’t help but feel empathy towards Tommy. And even stronger respect for the greatest bad movie ever created.
”In the end, the phenomenon of The Room has allowed me to realize that, in life, anything is possible. The Room is a drama that is also a comedy that is also an existential cry for help that is finally a testament to human endurance. It has made me reconsider what defines artistic success or failure. If art is expression, can it fail?”
After reading this book and watching its film adaptation (which I also highly recommend, by the way) I just can’t help but feel empathy towards Tommy. And even stronger respect for the greatest bad movie ever created.
”In the end, the phenomenon of The Room has allowed me to realize that, in life, anything is possible. The Room is a drama that is also a comedy that is also an existential cry for help that is finally a testament to human endurance. It has made me reconsider what defines artistic success or failure. If art is expression, can it fail?”
carokfulf's review against another edition
4.0
A loving, honest account of the worst movie ever made, and the consuming friendship that fueled it.