The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece

A Novel

By: Tom Hanks

Narrated by: Tom Hanks, Peter Gerety, Natalie Morales, Ego Nwodim, Nasim Pedrad, Connor Ratliff, Holland Taylor, Rita Wilson, Full Cast

From the legendary actor and best-selling author: a novel about the making of a star-studded, multimillion-dollar superhero action film...and the humble comic books that inspired it. Funny, touching, and wonderfully thought-provoking, while also capturing the changes in America and American culture since World War II.

"Wild, ambitious and exceptionally enjoyable." —Matt Haig, best-selling author The Midnight Library, The Humans and Reasons to Stay Alive

Part One of this story takes place in 1947. A troubled soldier, returning from the war, meets his talented five-year-old nephew, leaves an indelible impression, and then disappears for twenty-three years.

Cut to 1970: The nephew, now drawing underground comic books in Oakland, California, reconnects with his uncle and, remembering the comic book he saw when he was five, draws a new version with his uncle as a World War II fighting hero.

Cut to the present day: A commercially successful director discovers the 1970 comic book and decides to turn it into a contemporary superhero movie.

Cue the cast: We meet the film’s extremely difficult male star, his wonderful leading lady, the eccentric writer/director, the producer, the gofer production assistant, and everyone else on both sides of the camera.

Bonus material: Interspersed throughout are three comic books that are featured in the story—all created by Tom Hanks himself—including the comic book that becomes the official tie-in to this novel’s "major motion picture masterpiece."

*Includes a downloadable PDF of the comics from the book and a QR code for access to the original screenplay of Knightshade: The Lathe of Firefall

Bliss

As an actress from a small town learning the business of show, I find this book is both a treasure from our beloved Mr. Hanks and a gift to demystifying the magical realm of moviemaking.. Enjoyable characterizations, prose and stories. The candor in Mr.Hanks voice is a delight. Every reader serves the story beautifully.

The magic of movies answered on a typewriter.

The future of audiobooks is here and it is all starting with this. The story is everything one would expect it to be with much more human interest than you can shake a stick at. The character voice actors do-not disappoint as they completely understood the asignment. The post audio editing is missing a few things but I am sure that can be fixed soon.
How blessed we are in this time to have the talent of Tom Hanks, Rita Wison and the rest of the cast expound thier talents in this medium. I thabk you all for your efforts and dedication to your craft.
I will be buying a new-to-me typewriter, recommending this book and a typewriter to everyone that I know including my mother.

What a fun insight into filmmaking!

What an interesting insight into film making. I loved the characters and the story from the beginning and how it circled back at the end. It’s also always great to hear Tom Hanks!

Fun peek behind the movie curtain

A touching story and interesting insight into the world of cinema. Tom Hanks is an easy to listen to narrator. Highly recommend!

I will never watch a movie the same way again.

The rich details of movie making were incredible. I felt like I was there from the tiniest detail to the final scene. Of course this was fiction but I could feel the realness of what movie making is all about. It started slow but ultimately I couldn’t stop listening.