The Disaster Artist by Greg Sestero & Tom Bissell

 Framed spoons.

There are framed photos of spoons all over the apartment set in the cult classic so-bad-it's-genius film The Room. The framed spoons are in the background of nearly every shot with a table, and that's because the art department wasn't allowed to replace the stock photos. Tommy Wiseau, the writer-director-producer-star of the film, wanted to hurry up and film the movie. The entire set was purchased directly from a thrift store's window display, and the art department had been concerned about the set looking as bare (as intended, in its former life.) 

How does Tommy Wiseau have the money to almost single-handedly fund this film? Even by the end of the book, no one really knows; all author (and Room co-star!) Greg Sestero can do is take some educated guesses. Tommy Wiseau is a cipher; he's an unstable, unfailingly earnest and optimistic pistache of someone who bought the American Dream for 19.99 plus shipping and handling. His famous line from The Room-- "You're tearing me aparrrrrt, Lisssssa!"-- is a botched version of the same line from the 1950s James Dean classic film Rebel Without a Cause. He wants every scene to have the intensity of Scarlett O'Hara's vow to never go hungry again. When every scene is like Leonardo DiCaprio's jubilant "I'm king of the world!" moment from the Titanic, the entire movie becomes a surreal experience for the outside help.

Framed spoons -- a real frame from the real film.

Greg Sestero... good-naturedly... kind of just... goes along with Tommy Wiseau's insanity. He's a wannabe actor chasing his own dreams, albeit in a more subdued, realistic fashion, when he meets Tommy Wiseau in an acting class. He finds Tommy Wiseau's insistence on intensity absolutely fascinating, but before long, he's allowed this man to cast him in the movie. Sestero recognizes that the script, the production, the casting, and the filming of this movie is amateur hour at its worst, but Sestero drifts along with the massive undertaking. Sestero is all of us as he watches the Titanic race toward an iceberg. He's willing to be on the ship because where else should he be? He's chasing his own Hollywood ambitions, but those aren't coming true. This man is making a terrible movie, but at least he's making the movie he always wanted to make, and he's doing it on his own terms.

Somehow.

This is a wild ride.

And oh my goodness, this is funny. The fact that this is true is surreal and seems unlikely-- and yet, the Room exists.

This is a testament to all earnest, uninhibited outcasts of Hollywood that are usually left forgotten and hollowed out by broken promises and lights that are usually a little too glaring and bright. The movie industry is plastic and hard, but it can be an absolute blast. And sometimes-- even when you fail-- you can kind of succeed.

The Disaster Artist is by Greg Sestero & Tom Bissell. Please check this book out from your local library. It's worth it.