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)

Loved the book!

The narration was captivating. I found myself looking forward to getting back to the story to hear Tommy with all his interesting character. I would definitely recommend

The room... what to say?

I’ve loved this film for a long time. From my own commentary to RiffTrax’s mockery. This wonderfully written story breathes an amazing view on what is arguably one the world’s most interesting pieces of art and the artist himself. Greg shows himself to be an amazing human being without being a crazed egoist or being unbelievable as the unbelievable scenes are in the book. tommy has been consistently inconsistent on his view of Greg’s telling which seems to be right on the money. Force your friends to see the movie if you do nothing else with the rest of your life. Oh hai Mark!

a funny and interesting book

if you long for more Tommy Wiseau in your life Greg Sestero brings it. His Wiseau impersonation is incredible and the story is great too. Very funny!

Just amazing

if you've seen the movie and wondered about Tommy Wiseau then you need this book. It fills you with his crazy life and this intense film.

Hilarious Account of a Cult Classic

No experience with The Room necessary. This book will provide all the context needed the enjoy the crazy tale of a movie development gone so awesomely wrong. If you are a movie buff then this is a must-read, and if you want more information behind the film The Room then there is no better place to find it. Amazing from start to finish.

Funny and very touching

I expected just a funny book, but this book was also touching. The author, Greg, is the best friend (maybe only friend) to Tommy, one of the most interesting real people I have ever read about. Although Greg will not hesitate to point out all the absurdities of Tommy, he never does it cruelly but with compassion and understanding. Even though I understand why no one can put up with Tommy, I also felt like I understood why Tommy was so eccentric.

An insightful and hilarious look into Tommy Wiseau

What made the experience of listening to The Disaster Artist the most enjoyable?

As a fan of The Room this added a whole other level of depth to the films otherwordly aura.

What about Greg Sestero’s performance did you like?

Greg's impression of Tommy made the the book, it was like he was there.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, although i had to break it up, whenever i could i was listening to it.

This is the best audio book I've listened to yet

wow. I haven't seen the room yet, but noe I feel like I NEED to see it. This book is so amazing

Way better than the print version! No Mickey Mouse

I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed "The Disaster Artist" - a first hand account of the making of "The Room" and noted experiences of being close to Tommy Wiseau. "The Disaster Artist" audiobook also proved to be more enjoyable by being read by it's author - Greg Sestero. For any of Tommy's dialogue in the book, Greg did an excellent job capturing Tommy's eccentric accent and inflections. I don't think I would have enjoyed this book as much without hearing Greg read the book.

Overall, this was a very interesting, inside-look at one of the worst movies ever made - "The Room". I've been fascinated by this movie after having seen it years ago when I heard that it was possibly the best-worst movie ever made. (Personally I think Troll 2 takes the title of best-worst movie ever made). Aside from hearing about how "The Room" was made, it was also very fascinating to hear about through Greg's close encounter and friendship with Tommy.

I had already seen the movie version of this book, starring the Franco brothers, but was in for a treat hearing much of the back story and additional content that was left out of the movie such as Tommy's mysterious upbringing and background. There are also enduring moments between Greg and Tommy in the book which I do not think were executed well or represented in the movie version.

Pros: many laugh-out-loud moments and story telling that flowed really well - no dull moments.
Cons: unlike many other books, I wish this book was a bit longer to hear Greg's account after "The Room" came out and how it's been received by various audiences.
Bottom line: highly recommended for anyone that is interested in and enjoys bad movies.

Worth listening to the audiobook versus reading

Greg's Tommy impression really makes the audio version worth a listen! Fascinating story about Greg's life and Tommy's movie.