The Disaster Artist Audiobook By Greg Sestero, Tom Bissell cover art

The Disaster Artist

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

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The Disaster Artist

By: Greg Sestero, Tom Bissell
Narrated by: Greg Sestero
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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 Actors Biographies & Memoirs Entertainment & Celebrities Entertainment & Performing Arts Film & TV History & Criticism Popular Culture Social Sciences Celebrity Funny Entertainment Heartfelt Witty Inspiring Feel-Good Magic

Editorial review


By Seth Hartman, Audible Editor

THE DISASTER ARTIST IS THE ULTIMATE ODE TO FAILURE

During my first college semester, I was relentlessly diligent in my pursuit of a social life. Through the endless array of dorm parties, club signups, and free cupcakes, I came across a fellow freshman who pitched me a club idea of his own— "The Z Movie Society." Basically, the vision was that we would meet weekly and watch movies with infamously bad critical receptions. Through the deluge of shark-infested weather patterns and Nazi militias on the moon, one film shined through, a film with a surprisingly straightforward plot.

The film in question was The Room, the story of a man who slowly realizes that his wife is cheating on him with his best friend. The star and creator of the movie, Tommy Wiseau provides one of the most baffling film experiences I’ve ever enjoyed. Wiseau had never acted let alone created a movie before, and so relied on his instincts when it came to script, direction, and performance. He is both serious and silly, reading his lines (which he wrote himself) either with robotic swiftness or completely over-the-top emotional gusto. Yes, the plot makes no sense and the instances of green screen usage were egregious, but I was mostly interested in Tommy Wiseau, the ringleader of this exceptionally weird experience. Where did he come from? What accent does he have? And, above all else, why the hell did he feel compelled to make this movie?

Luckily for me, I did not need to wait to find any of this information out. In 2013, 10 years after The Room’s release, Greg Sestero (Tommy’s costar in the film) came out with The Disaster Artist, a memoir recounting his strange experience meeting, working with, and eventually being creatively tied to Tommy Wiseau. By this point, the original film was enjoying cult status in pop culture, and it quickly became apparent that there were tons of curious people out there like me. Greg narrates the audiobook, too, steeping the listener in his experience.

Throughout The Disaster Artist, Sestero does his best to pay tribute to a creative with a singular vision and the drive to make it happen, logic be damned. Despite countless roadblocks, questions, and concerns along the way, this man, for better or for worse, threw caution to the wind and made his dream a reality. To this day, The Room remains a cult hit, and The Disaster Artist even got its own feature film.

The long-lasting success of this objectively terrible film and the book that followed fill me with so much joy. It is strangely empowering to know that a single person can fight against the current like Wiseau did and somehow land on his feet. While I don’t see anything like The Room winning an Oscar any time soon, I sincerely hope that more works like The Disaster Artist come along to shine a light on more Z movies.

Continue reading Seth's review >

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)

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Fascinating behind the scenes glimpse at one of the most bizarre film productions. Entertaining and well read.

Great Book

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This is a funny, insightful look into the best worst movie ever made. Every minute of this is jam packed with strange and funny moments of insight and foolishness. Whether you have seen either movie or not, it serves as a good precursor to both of the films. The deliverance is a little jarring though. Each chapter flips from Tommy or Greg's past to the filming of "The Room" and is a little confusing until you get used to it. Other than that, it's a fantastic read/listen and I highly recommend it!

Definitely not Mickey Mouse stuff.

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Sestero’s narration provides life to Tommy more than the printed word could. It’s less of an impression than it is a second person simultaneously telling the story.

Fantastic performance of an excellent work about a fascinating movie and fascinating people.

It’s rare that the audiobook is better than print.

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Greg Sestero offers a performance and impression of Wiseau that rivals (if not trumps) James Franco's. In addition to a fantastic reading of his book, Sestero seems to have a near perfect recollection of the events that unfolded leading up to the Room's premiere. Sestero is a brilliant writer, and offers up more than just a backstage memoir of The Room's filming--that is to say, in this book, you may also find an impressive portrait of Los Angeles in the early 2000's, and a deeply honest depiction of an aspiring actor's journey through the relentless oppressors of the Hollywood film industry. The book is beautifully written, and stands alone as a story--but, I highly recommend the audio book if you have any admiration for the performing arts. I decided to download the audio book a few weeks after watching the motion picture adaptation, and immediately became immersed in all of the details that the film adaptation couldn't include. Now, if only Tommy would release his version of the story, and narrate his book...

Brilliant

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I did not want it to end I want a second one and I want it to be about tommys life what happened to his parents. Y is he so exotic. Thank you for this masterpiece

Amazing

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