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peterplaysguitar 's review for:
The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made
by Greg Sestero, Tom Bissell
emotional
funny
inspiring
medium-paced
The Disaster Artist is—much like Tommy Wiseau and his disasterpiece, The Room— really hard to describe. It's funny as hell for starters, but also surreal, inspirational, and terrifying. Greg Sestero seems to know what readers want, and that is copious anecdotes of Tommy & Greg, all-American best friends. He tells the story of making The Room while mixing in chapters from their wild past; from how they met, to how they ended up sharing an apartment in Los Angeles, to how Wiseau's rampant insecurities led him to write the movie/play script for the best worst movie ever made.
After watching The Room for the first time years ago, I was left with quite a few questions. After learning that the movie had a $6M budget though? I was fully caught up in the mystery. And this experience is a fairly regular outcome for those who watch the movie and don't turn it off after the opening barrage of awkward sex scenes. Wiseau's obsession with privacy makes the curiosity even worse. Through what was most likely unconscious effort, he has made himself into one of 21st century cinema's most fascinating personalities.
Sestero understands the allure and complexities of this enigmatic persona entirely. He shares enough information about Wiseau to allow the reader to feel satisfied, but remains vague enough to not completely dispel the myth. If you're a fan of the film and want laugh-out-loud BTS stories from the guy who saw it all, Sestero has that covered. If you saw the movie and needed to know more about the mind behind the magic, Sestero provides man's best shot at deciphering Wiseau's erratic neural pathways.
I'm not sure if this needs to be said, but if you haven't watched The Room, stay away from this book. You won't believe what Sestero says if you haven't seen it with your own two eyes, anyway. But if you have seen The Room, this novel is required reading. It'll give you a whole new appreciation for the movie (and for the patience of that crew that worked on it). My only complaint is that the book isn't longer.
After watching The Room for the first time years ago, I was left with quite a few questions. After learning that the movie had a $6M budget though? I was fully caught up in the mystery. And this experience is a fairly regular outcome for those who watch the movie and don't turn it off after the opening barrage of awkward sex scenes. Wiseau's obsession with privacy makes the curiosity even worse. Through what was most likely unconscious effort, he has made himself into one of 21st century cinema's most fascinating personalities.
Sestero understands the allure and complexities of this enigmatic persona entirely. He shares enough information about Wiseau to allow the reader to feel satisfied, but remains vague enough to not completely dispel the myth. If you're a fan of the film and want laugh-out-loud BTS stories from the guy who saw it all, Sestero has that covered. If you saw the movie and needed to know more about the mind behind the magic, Sestero provides man's best shot at deciphering Wiseau's erratic neural pathways.
I'm not sure if this needs to be said, but if you haven't watched The Room, stay away from this book. You won't believe what Sestero says if you haven't seen it with your own two eyes, anyway. But if you have seen The Room, this novel is required reading. It'll give you a whole new appreciation for the movie (and for the patience of that crew that worked on it). My only complaint is that the book isn't longer.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship
Moderate: Bullying, Mental illness, Stalking