The Disaster Artist

I’ve never written about a book before in the way that I’m going to write about one this time.  At least, I can’t remember a time that I ever wrote about a book in this much detail.  But I’m about to because of how relevant the book is to my blog.  As you know, I write every week about a bad movie that I watch.  It’s something that I enjoy.  I like watching bad movies.  They give me a better perspective on the movies that I watch.  The bad movies make the good ones shine.  It’s this affection for bad movies that made me want to write about them.

One of the most inspirational bad movies for me was a movie called The Room.  I hated that movie when I originally saw it, but over the few years since that viewing, I have grown to love it.  Yes, it’s very poorly made.  Everything about it screams out about how bad the movie really is.  That does not stop my love from being there.

Two months ago, actor Greg Sestero published a book he wrote about his relationship with Tommy Wiseau and the time they spent making The Room.  It was called The Disaster Artist.  The book covered the timespan from when Greg met Tommy until the premiere of The Room.  Greg Sestero was aided by Tom Bissell in putting the story of his acting career into book form.

The reason I wanted to read The Disaster Artist was to get more insight into one of my favourite bad movies.  I was eager to learn about why the movie turned out the way that it did.  I wanted to find out how the idea of the movie was conceived.  Most of all, Tommy Wiseau is a fascinating character, and I was excited to discover things about him that I didn’t know.  The Disaster Artist delivered on all of these things and more.

What makes The Disaster Artist stand out as an enjoyable read is that it tells two different real life tales that come together to make one single story.  The first story is about Greg Sestero starting out his acting career, and how Tommy Wiseau played into this part of his life.  It begins in San Francisco at an acting class, and leads to Sestero’s hard time making it in Hollywood.  The second story in The Disaster Artist involves the making of The Room, Tommy Wiseau’s classic bad film.  Both of the two stories play out through the entire book, with each story getting one chapter at a time before switching to the other tale.

I was quite satisfied with The Disaster Artist.  It gave me the insight into The Room that I was looking for.  I learned some new things about the behind-the-scenes happenings while the movie was being made.  I discovered the events that led to the movie being conceived.  I found out some new things that could only make the viewing experience of The Room better for me when I go back to see the movie again.

It’s hard to say how much of The Disaster Artist was Greg Sestero and how much was Tom Bissell.  No matter how much of the book was either of them, I enjoyed what was told, and I enjoyed how it was told.  It was a book that interested me because of my interest in the movie and people that it is about.  It kept the information captivating and it enlightened me on certain things that I didn’t already know.  It made Tommy Wiseau even more interesting of a personality, and I wasn’t sure that could be done.  But it was.

If you’re a fan of The Room, you best get to reading The Disaster Artist.  It’s a worthwhile read for anyone who likes the movie.  If you haven’t seen the movie, I would still recommend the book.  It’s just a well written and well told story about life in Hollywood and the problems you could face as a struggling actor.  It’s also true.

That’s all I’ve got about The Disaster Artist.  Like I said, I haven’t written a whole post on one book before, and I wasn’t really sure how to do it.  I stumbled through this entire thing trying to find the right way to represent my feelings, and I’m not sure I truly did that.  I’m sorry for that.  However, I got enough down that I think you know what I’m saying through the entire thing.

I’d just like to leave off with a link to my post about The Room.  It was way back at the twenty-fifth post.  It’s a movie that meant a lot to me when deciding to write about bad movies.  That’s why I covered it so early in the Sunday “Bad” Movies.

Thanks for reading.