The Disaster Artist

My Life inside 'The Room', the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made

By: Greg Sestero, Tom Bissell

Narrated by: Greg Sestero

Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

Nineteen-year-old Greg Sestero met Tommy Wiseau at an acting school in San Francisco. Wiseau's scenes were rivetingly wrong, yet Sestero, hypnotized by such uninhibited acting, thought, "I have to do a scene with this guy." That impulse changed both of their lives. Wiseau seemed never to have read the rule book on interpersonal relationships (or the instructions on a bottle of black hair dye), yet he generously offered to put the aspiring actor up in his LA apartment. Sestero's nascent acting career first sizzled, then fizzled, resulting in Wiseau's last-second offer to Sestero of co-starring with him in The Room, a movie Wiseau wrote and planned to finance, produce, and direct - in the parking lot of a Hollywood equipment-rental shop.

Wiseau spent $6 million of his own money on his film, but despite the efforts of the disbelieving (and frequently fired) crew and embarrassed (and frequently fired) actors, the movie made no sense. Nevertheless, Wiseau rented a Hollywood billboard featuring his alarming headshot and staged a red carpet premiere. The Room made $1,800 at the box office and closed after two weeks. One reviewer said that watching The Room was like "getting stabbed in the head".

The Disaster Artist is Greg Sestero's laugh-out-loud funny account of how Tommy Wiseau defied every law of artistry, business, and friendship to make "the Citizen Kane of bad movies" (Entertainment Weekly), which is now an international phenomenon, with Wiseau himself beloved as an oddball celebrity. Written with award-winning journalist Tom Bissell, The Disaster Artist is an inspiring tour de force, an open-hearted portrait of an enigmatic man who will improbably capture your heart.

©2013 Greg Sestero and Thomas Carlisle Bissell (P)2014 Tantor

Critic reviews

"This downright thrilling book is a lot like watching Tim Burton's Ed Wood: it's sometimes infuriating, often excruciating, usually very funny, and occasionally horribly uncomfortable, but it's also impossible to look away from." ( Booklist, Starred Review)

This is a Rollercoaster of emotion.

The sincerity of the friendship between Greg and Tommy is one that ,everyone who is considered a bit strange, can find a little bit of themselves in.

had to listen twice it's that good

loved it it's the kind of story that makes you feel like living a dream is possible

the best

I've listened go this book three times now and recommend it to everyone that watched the room. i feel like the movie missed out on some of the best moments in this book and Greg does such an amazing job of story telling. his impressions are spot on too. he even got me to watch the talented mister ripley. 10/10 will listen to again.

Must read/hear

This is so good I recommend anyone listen to this, Sestero does a great job reading. The story is just so interesting. I couldn’t stop listening.

Really enjoy it

Was surprised to find out how much the movie excluded. It was very entertaining, if you have heard about the Room, check this out.

Watch The Room. Read this Book. Watch The Room.

You HAVE to watch The Room first. Preferably in a theatre where people yell out lines from the movie and chuck spoons at the screen.

Then read this book.

Then watch The Room again.

The watch The Disaster Artist movie.

I was introduced to The Room via a friend when getting my Masters. We had wine, and in a group, watched this train wreck of a movie aghast and with many giggles. THEN he made us watch it again with Rifftrax from the guys behind Mystery Science Theatre. We laughed so hard everyone got an amazing ab workout that night. The Room then went down in history as it grew in popularity.

I remember hearing about this book when it was about to be released. Somehow a friend of a friend who worked at the local library got Greg to come in and do a reading - later that night they did one of those spoon-chucking movie nights at a local theatre and Greg and his girlfriend visited. He did a Q&A and was super cool. And somehow a group from the event, including Sestero, ended up at a bar and closed the place down. No one talked about the movie or book, and he is such a nice guy.

Greg's experience on this film is amazingly awkward and funny and I'm happy to see him turn this weird experience into a book. I listened to it on the road trip back to my next level of grad school and oh man, this book is hilarious. Greg's Tommy-impersonation is spot on - I laughed so hard. I'm so glad he read his own book. And of course, he got a movie deal out of it.

Seriously. Experience this Room-ception in the order I listed above. Fun times.

A Distasteful Masterpiece

Great story from a man in the trenches on The Room. The movie missed a lot of points. Even if you love the film, The Disaster Artist, give this a listen.

Oh, hai reader!

Fantastic!

I just finished this amazing audiobook behind the making of The Room. Tommy Wiseau's unshakeable determination to make this disasterpiece into a realization is truly something to admire.

Excellent

Bizarre, cringe-inducing and odd but even more weirdly hopeful, kind and extremely fun. One of my favorite books

Required for fans of the Room

Fans of the film will love this companion into the inner workings of its creation and the man who made it happen.