Are you a movie buff? Fascinated with the process of making a movie? This is the book for you!! Tom Hanks really pulls you into the process, the stars, the director/producers, and the "worker bees" that make the magic of movies. Although at times the details of the process can be a bit tedious, there are many wonderful parts of this book.

Obviously Hanks knows the ins and outs of making movies, and it shows, but the writing is amazing. Hanks uses a combination of writing styles to tell the story of the making of a blockbuster superhero movie. Sometimes the writing feels like a transcript of a documentary -- quoting the many participants. Sometimes there are text messages, sometimes dialogue, sometimes the text of the screenplay, sometimes a straight "novel style" narrative. This variety added to my enjoyment and kept me engaged. Although there are plenty of details about the process of movie making, there are also many moments that pull the reader into the lives of the many characters, and every one is filled with personality and captured my attention. Movie fans will love it, but even if the process doesn't interest you the characters will touch your heart.

One note -- There are MANY footnotes for every chapter. I read this on my Kindle, and accessing the footnotes as I read was difficult (perhaps it's just user error?). I did read the notes at the end of each chapter and they definitely added to the experience, often explaining terminology or providing context or backstory. I wish I had read a "real" book that would make accessing these notes as they were referenced easier for me.

I really enjoyed Hanks' book of short stories, and enjoyed bits of this as well - my complaint is that I feel it was too long and could have been edited down quite a bit. Still, a fun read by America's favorite actor!

Having seen Tom Hanks in numerous interviews, it’s clear the man can tell a likable, good story worth hearing. I missed his earlier book, so jumped at the chance to read this new one.

It cuts through different time periods while telling of the making of a huge film. It’s ambitious and engaging, and a book that I can’t wait to discuss with library patrons.


Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for allowing access to a digital ARC for the purposes of review.

Tom Hanks has more than one talent, that’s for sure; or perhaps he is an artist that’s ridiculously talented at telling stories, whether they be on the page or screen. One thing I’ll tell you now: I am completely convinced that he did indeed write this book himself, and it’s damn good, too.

My thanks go to Net Galley and Alfred A. Knopf Publishing for the review copy. This book is for sale now.

The story begins with a child prodigy, an artist living in Lone Butte, California, who as he matures, becomes a comic book illustrator. Fast forward about thirty years, and that comic becomes a movie.

Our story doesn’t have just one protagonist, and it is intentional, or so it appears to this reviewer. We have the big boss, Bill Johnson, his assistant, Candace, and the assistant she recruits in Georgia, Allicia. We learn something of their backgrounds and their personalities, but mostly, we see how important they are to the success of the movie. When the movie is finished with Atlanta, Allicia, who now goes by Al, comes along and is eventually promoted; she then finds someone to take her place. We learn more about other people that are working the production, and I am amazed by the sheer number of people involved, and how much must be done to keep everyone on an even keel. Eventually we meet the two big stars of this action movie; one is hardworking, cooperative, and comes up with a host of useful ideas; the other is an egotist, a Do-You-Know-Who-I-Am type, and everybody walks on eggshells in an effort to make him happy, and to make him want to show up and do his job.

In the hands of a less talented writer, this whole thing might feel list-like, but Hanks sculpts these characters so that I feel I know them, and I care about what happens to them.

There’s more than a little wry humor in this tale, and the copious footnotes at the end of each chapter are a part of that. I read them all, because some of them are hilarious, but readers that lack the patience for it can breeze right on by them without missing anything critically important. And here’s a nugget that cracked me up:
“Of late, Bill had been using military-style call words rather than expletives. Fuck was Foxtrot. Asshole was Alpha Hotel. Cocksucker? Charlie Oscar Charlie Kilo Sierra.”

As a bonus, artist Robert Sikoryak has written the comics themselves, and they are included in the book. Those that love comics should probably get this book in hard cover, because a lot of the detail is hard to see in the digital version that I read. As for me, I don’t give one single poo about comics, and I skipped them.

Movie buffs will be fascinated with the vast amount of movie making minutiae here. I am not a big movie viewer, but I eat it all up, anyway, because I had no idea of the amount of time, personnel, and materials necessary to creating a major movie, masterpiece or otherwise.

Although he doesn’t beat the drum hard enough to distract from the overall story, Hanks’s message is crystal clear: everyone involved in creating a movie is important. If the crew doesn’t have enough restrooms, it affects the movie. If nobody brings lunch to the set, some people will be miserable and perform below par, whereas others will slip away in search of food and not be available when needed. And if just one person is a horse’s ass and drags his feet, or if he blabs things to the press that aren’t supposed to be released yet, he can add millions of dollars to the cost of the production. Here’s a perfect quote:

“What advice can you give us to make it in Hollywood?” She talked about the great divide between solving problems and causing them, and the importance of being on time.”

Through all of this, I keep wondering when we will see the young artist that made the comic again. If we started with him, it makes sense we will see him again at some point, right? Yes. This detail—along with every other—is done beautifully.

There’s not one thing about this book that I don’t love, and the feel-good ending is icing on the cake. Highly recommended to those that love movies as well as excellent fiction.

✨ARC REVIEW✨
The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece
By: Tom Hanks
Pages: 448
Release Date: May 9th, 2023

I will start this by saying I love Tom Hanks!! I think he is so funny and I requested this with the full intention that NetGalley would laugh in my face the way they do every-time I ask for a Berkeley (one day they will say yes, right??)

Well last night at 6pm I got the email from NetGalley saying that I got the ARC, however it came out THAT DAY!

On to the book it’s self. It was a great memoir and I am happy that I was able to read it! It is broken up in a few different parts which is nice and I really liked the flow of his book!

Let me first say that I LOVE TOM HANKS! He is an amazing actor and even better writer so when I was approved to read and review this book, I was elated. This book did not disappoint and I'm excited to see what my patrons think of this book. We already have it on our shelves for patrons to check out!

I’m sorry to say that I did not really care for this book. I thought it was too busy, too wordy, and it had too much unneeded information which made it hard for me to concentrate on the story -- and it way too long.

I read Tom Hanks’ previous book and enjoyed his writing style. But it felt like he was trying too hard in this one.

It may also be that it didn’t hold my attention because I am not particularly interested in the subject matter, so there’s that…

I’d like to thank NetGalley, Tom Hanks, and Knopf Books for the advanced reader's copy in exchange for my unbiased review.

How fun that Tom Hanks wrote such an ambitious novel - thrilled to have received it from the publisher. I enjoyed the writing and found myself smiling and enjoying the character development. It’s a fun read. At times, for me, it dragged a bit and loose ends dangled a bit too long. I’m glad I read it - it’s a big book and I’ll always read anything the incredible Tom Hanks writes. Thanks to Knopf for the copy - what a gift.

DNF but really really trying to. Hard to figure out who is what due to the jumping around. Going to give it another chance with the audiobook.

Thank you to @netgalley for the ARC

“From the Academy Award-winning 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.“

I wasn’t sure how I’d like this one. I mean, I love TOM HANKS, but career crossovers don’t always work out.

This book was pretty solid, though.

I enjoyed the characters (particularly OKB – who doesn’t love a well-written jackass?) the settings (I’ll likely never set foot in LA, so that was fun), and I loved the two story arcs.

I DID find the book a tad on the long side, and the two stories took awhile to converge, but the audiobook (I read with both my eyeballs and my ear holes) was A DELIGHT.

That in itself was worth the price of admission.

I’ll definitely be checking out any future fiction from my favourite Sheriff.

7.5/10

Thanks to NetGalley, Knopf, and Penguin Random House Canada for this ARC.

This multi-layered novel successfully covers a wide time span, a broad cast of characters, and multiple stages of movie production. Hanks certainly knows what he's talking about, and makes readers aware of all the complexities that may go on behind the scenes in bringing a film to fruition. The book begins with a boy who idolizes his uncle going off to fight in World War II and grows up to create a comic book series memorializing him. What follows is the introduction of the film's director, his producer, then various actors, and assorted crew members. We come to know these characters well, and understand all the obstacles in their way that impede the creation of a great film and affect their personal lives. There are laugh-out-loud moments that both heighten and minimize production frustrations. Chief among them was the completely obnoxious male star--thank goodness that was resolved. For film buffs this should be a fun glimpse behind the scenes, and for everyone else it's fun for the characters and their stories.

4 Stars

Tom Hanks Doesn’t Need My Review to Sell Books

First, I must confess that I am not exactly a movie buff. In fact, I don’t go to theaters at all anymore (even before Covid) and I rarely watch movies or television at home. You see, for the better part of my young life, my family only owned a Sony 19-inch, black and white, portable television. The great thing about such a television is that it can be taken into any room with an outlet to be watched. Even in the garage! That is, of course, if you can adjust the rabbit ears just right to get decent enough reception. The not-so-great thing about such a television is that most nights, shortly after dinner, my father would take the television into his bedroom to watch from the comfort of his bed until the anthem played and snowy fuzz blurred the tiny screen. Needless to say, I didn’t have the chance to watch a lot of television in my formative years. Instead, I read voraciously, listened to music I probably shouldn’t have been listening to thanks to my big brother and Columbia Record Club, and tried my hand at writing my own “Great American Novel.” (Still a work in progress, so stay tuned.) And I learned to live without visual entertainment on a screen.

This doesn’t mean I didn’t want to watch television. I was lucky enough to catch nearly every episode of M*A*S*H (which looks funny italicized) because it happened to air during the dinner hour and the television would be set prominently on top of the portable dishwasher for perfect viewing from the kitchen table. On Thursday night in the early 1980s, if my dad was feeling generous, he would take the TV to the living room and I would sprawl out on the floor, with my chin propped in my hands to take in a little comedy show called Bosom Buddies, starring Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari. Now, my dad being from deep south Alabama, this didn’t seem like the kind of television show he would favor. I mean, my dad was more an Archie Bunker type, so two men dressing as women so they can live in a female only apartment building didn’t seem like the kind of show he would watch, let alone like. But he did, and he laughed, and my nine-year-old self laughed right along with him.

By 1985, long after I’d learned to occupy my time without television, my family inherited, from where I couldn’t say, a late 1960s era Curtis Mathes color television and stereo console. It took up an entire wall in our duplex living room and had a record player, FM/AM radio, and 8 track player hidden in the top. This was the golden era of prosperity for my family. One that wouldn’t last long, but memorable. I think it must have been my older brother who convinced my dad to get cable for our “new” TV. With a new subscription to cable came a free trial of HBO. Even though this was the golden age of prosperity for my family, I’m certain we could barely afford the luxury of basic cable television. So, when the three-month free trial of HBO ran out that was the end of it. But what an exhilarating three months it was for a kid who barely watched TV.

I was a latchkey kid, so I took full advantage of my time alone with the television watching “nearly new” movies right there in my living room. Imagine my pre-pubescent, girlish delight in March of 1985 when we received the HBO programming guide in the mail and the most beautiful mermaid my twelve-year-old eyes had ever seen, Daryl Hannah, was on the cover. This meant that for the entire month of March I could watch the stunning, sun-kissed mermaid Daryl Hannah and that funny guy Tom Hanks from Bosom Buddies in the movie Splash every. single. day. And I did.

Not long after the three-month trial of HBO ran out, cable television returned to the standard programming of ABC, CBS, NBC, and PBS in my house, and I went back to my books, records, and writing. But over the years, every time I’ve had a chance to see Tom Hanks in a movie, I have. I’m no superfan who has seen every single movie he has ever made or produced, but I have seen many and consider myself a fan of his work. Like Mr. Hanks, I also have an affinity for typewriters, going back to my young days of trying to compose my “Great American Novel” on an olive drab green-colored Royal my grandfather gave me. Oh, how I wish I still had that machine. I consider myself lucky to have a signed copy of Mr. Hanks’ first book Uncommon Type, which I purchased from Parnassus Books when I lived in Nashville, Tennessee. So, when I was given the opportunity to review his new novel The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece I happily accepted, because I am a fan of his work.

I honestly didn’t know what to expect with this book. The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece is extremely difficult to summarize, but I will give it my best shot. A young boy, Robby, grows up in Lone Butte, California. He loves to draw and lives an idyllic, carefree childhood among plum trees and orchards. His uncle Robert ‘Bob’ Falls, who Robby is named after, served as a flame thrower in the Marines during WWII. One day, Bob shows up to Robby’s house on his motorcycle. Robby is captivated by his namesake and gets to take a ride into town on Bob’s motorcycle with him, much to his mother’s chagrin. Bob buys a bunch of comic books and ice cream floats for Robby at Clark’s Drugs. Bob’s PTSD is triggered while reading through one of the comics depicting a Marine with a flame thrower and he excuses himself to go drink at the bar across the street. Because his biker friends at the bar create a raucous, Bob is escorted out of town not to be seen again for many years. But Robby remembered his uncle Bob fondly and his visit somehow opened Robby’s eyes to a whole new way of seeing the world that he would use to develop his talent of drawing.

Uncle Bob was a drifter, going from town to town on his motorcycle until one day he found himself in Flagstaff. He was planning on continuing his nomad lifestyle on Route 66, but instead took a job as a dishwasher at a Chinese restaurant. He falls in love with Angel, who owns the restaurant with her father. They get married and move to Albuquerque, New Mexico and open a new restaurant.

Eventually Robby grows up and creates comics for Kool Katz Komix. One day Robby receives a letter from his long-lost uncle Bob and his memory is triggered to the Marine in the comic his uncle bought him so long ago. In a trance, or daydream, I’m not entirely sure which, Robby creates his own Marine flame thrower comic, The Lathe of Firefall, that is not well received by his peers for its gruesome depictions and lack of statement moral statement.

Fast forward 49 years and famed director Bill Johnson is making a movie based on The Lathe of Firefall, in, of all places, Lone Butte, CA. Everything that happens after is an exceptionally detailed account of how a movie is made with an enormous cast of characters and all the excitement, drama, heartache, and joy that moviemaking entails.

Mr. Hanks employs a stream of consciousness writing style that I believe is difficult to master and for many, difficult to read. At times it is lyrical, drifting along on a sea of words, evoking feelings of nostalgia and simpler times. Other times it feels exhausting, hoping from topic to topic so fast it is sometimes difficult to know exactly where the character is in time, or even which character is the focus anymore. As I read through the lyrical portions, which I found mainly in the backstory, I could hear Mr. Hanks’ calm, soothing voice narrate. In the more chaotic portions, during the moviemaking, that seemed to bounce around, I heard the voice of Sheriff Woody, talking as fast as he could, without interruption, barely taking a breath. I even caught myself holding my own breath and had to remind myself to breathe. Together, the lyrical and chaotic prose creates an ebb and flow that eventually carries the reader along.

The most difficult portion of this book for me was the 135 footnotes on the Kindle app. All the footnotes end up at the end of the chapters and to review them as you read along means you must jump back and forth between pages. It’s tedious and interrupts the flow of the reading. I ended up just waiting until I got the end of the chapter to review all the footnotes. I assume the physical book has actual footnotes where one can just glance down the page for reference and this would not be a problem, but I’m not 100% certain.

The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece feels like a love letter from Mr. Hanks to all things moviemaking. His love affair with motion pictures, acting, directing, and producing are evident. It’s no wonder he has achieved such enormous success in the industry. Although there were times during the moviemaking portion of the book that I just wanted it to be over, I powered through because I was captivated by the characters and the humanity Mr. Hanks brought to each one. Every character is fully formed, complex, and relatable. Considering the number of characters that grace the pages of this book, that is quite a feat.

If, like me, you are not a movie buff, then this book might be difficult to get through. A majority of the story is focused on the moviemaking (thus the title) and the level of detail is, at times, mind numbing for someone not that into movies. Did I mention the 135 footnotes? But the story, the underlining story, of Robby and his comic book based on his uncle that becomes a major motion picture is good, old-fashioned storytelling, and that I loved.

The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece is not going to be for everyone, but it is damn good writing, so I say give it a try. But, I'm just as average as a PONY driver or check-in clerk at the Garden Inn Suites, so who am I to critique Oscar winning, best-selling author, and reportedly all-around great guy Tom Hanks.

My most sincere thanks to Mr. Tom Hanks, Knopf, and NetGalley for the free review copy of The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece.

I absolutely loved this book! This is Tom Hanks first novel (he had an earlier book of short stories I enjoyed). This book brings together a story about family, PTSD, comic books (included in the story which is a wonderful touch!) and the trials and tribulations of making movies. Making films is not glamorous and there is a lot of waiting and multiple takes, etc. Hanks effectively weaves all these threads together in a compelling way and I felt like I was on the movie set with the characters because of the exquisite detail and empathy he has for all crew members and his humor at "Stars" with egos. I found the characters to be incredibly compelling, interesting, and likeable. I read the book version but would be interested in hearing him narrate the audiobook because I heard his voice throughout. I love stories where you feel like rooting for the characters and I did here. I highly recommend this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for an ARC and I left and honest review.

This book is misnamed. Instead of being titled “The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece,” it would be more accurately named “ The Minutiae of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece.” Page after page of details about how the teamsters deliver props to a movie set, what the responsibilities are of all the various assistants, how the scenes are scouted, how housing for the cast is arranged, the audition process, even the breakfast foods arrayed for the cast, Chapter after chapter all written in the informational style of an ultra long New Yorker profile. Only a few scenes stand out by creating drama — an egotistical featured actor getting his just desserts, a super fan hounding the star, the potential tension in a marriage of one of the actors — but then the issue is efficiently resolved and the story continues with barely a tremor.
For readers with stars in their eyes, hoping to break into the movie business, I imagine this would be gripping from beginning to end, but for the average movie-goer, even a loyal fan of Tom Hanks, this was far more than you ever cared to know. I actually think this story was written for an audience of one — Tom Hanks himself, trying to capture the magic of the Cardboard Carnival before his memories fade. After the pure delight I felt reading his collection of short stories, “An Uncommon Type” this was a great disappointment.,
I leave you with one warning: Never ask Mr. Hanks what time it is. Not only will he tell you how to make a watch, but he will provide the history of the factory where the watch was made and the genealogy of every worker employed st the factory.

In Tom Hanks' first foray into full length fiction readers will find an open eyed love letter to movie making. From the first seed of an idea in mind of a comic artist, to the desk of a screenwriter, to the folks that shape the words into images, to the invisible players who make everything on the screen possible; Hanks crafts a story about the birth of a major motion picture.

Most readers will know about the stereotypic characters like difficult actors, and this novel has its share. But what carries the day are the directors, writers, assistant production people who get the food, hustle up the spaces, and take care of trailers and the creative's needs. I loved the arc of the story, the insiders view of the family that is forged temporarily to make a movie happen. It is funny, engrossing, informative, and well written.

Yeah, there will be a movie made.

“I make movies because no other labor satisfies my quest to capture an unspoken truth, one so pure and undiscovered that the audience will slap themselves upside their heads for not having seen it long ago.”

I LOVE Tom Hanks. He is definitely in my top 3 of favorite actors. So when I was perusing a local indie bookstore and saw that he wrote a book…oh yes! Purchased immediately. Then I was told that he narrates the audio?! Fab. Purchased that too. 😍

This was an epic tale of just how a motion picture is made, annoyingly cocky actors and all. I was fascinated by exactly how much goes into making a movie. There are just so many moving parts it is a wonder they come together at all.

I swear there is nothing Tom Hanks can’t do. Throughout the book are comic book illustrations. So cool! The writing put you IN the story. The characters are well developed and I feel like I have a real sense now of the difficulty that is making a motion picture masterpiece. The audio, with a full cast, is absolutely fantastic. Just all around a win win.

Thank you to Netgalley, Knopf Publishing and Penguin Random House, and the author for the ARC. The physical copy and audible are my own.

First line: A little over five years back, I had a message on my voice mail from one Al Mac-Teer – which I heard as Almick Tear – from a number in the 310 area code.

Summary: Told in sections the story is the evolution of the plot of, as the title says, the making of another major motion picture masterpiece. We begin in 1947 with the backstory. A young boy is visited by his uncle after the end of the war. He is mesmerized by his tales of war which lead to years later creating a comic book based on his uncle’s military persona. As we arrive in present day the story is picked up by a major film director looking for the next big movie. Through the rest of the book we follow along through the process of creating a movie from casting, filming and post production while we meet and learn the stories of the players in the process of creating a film.

My Thoughts: I don’t know what I was expecting when I started this book. Okay, that’s a lie. I was expecting to love it. Tom Hanks is one of my favorite actors. I loved the short story collection Tom Hanks released several years ago. They were fun and quirky. However, this felt a little too long for me. I still enjoyed the book and found the backstories of the characters interesting. That had to have been my favorite bit. I liked to see how ordinary people made their way into the high status world of movie making. And not just the actors but all the other people involved in this magical world of movie making.

But I did find the process of making a movie rather tedious. There is so much that goes into such a big production. While this was not a spectacular read for me I could definitely see many people enjoying it. It gives insight into what really happens behind the cameras. There are many ups and downs that we as the movie goers never know about.

I listened to the audiobook which I would recommend. Much of the story is narrated by Tom Hanks there is also a full cast for the other characters in the story. This made listening much more enjoyable.

First, I'd like to thank NetGalley and this novel's publisher, Knopf, for allowing me to read a review copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Look: Before you look at the three stars I've given the book and think I'm going to tell you not to read it -- please hang tight and read on.

First, a quick overview about this novel. It's divided into sections that track the titular making of a major motion picture -- Backstory, Source Material, Development Hell, Prep, Casting, The Shoot, and Post. We start with Robby Anderson, a young artist who's inspired by his uncle Rob, a veteran, to create a comic book character who is a flamethrower in the armed forces. More than a half century later, the comic he created is optioned and becomes part of the inspiration for a new superhero movie in a Marvel-like cinematic universe (the fictional comic book company is called Dynamo, and the film is being made for a Netflix-like streamer called Hawkeye), with a cumbersome name: Knightshade: The Lathe of Firefall. The novel shifts to introduce a host of new characters during the process of making the film -- there's top-tier director Bill Johnson; his assistant producer Al Mac-Teer (short for Allicia); PONY driver (similar to an Uber driver) Ynez Gonzalez-Cruz, who joins the crew as a problem-solver; as well as the film's cast -- actress Wren Lane and actors O. K. Bailey (or simply "OKB") and Ike Clipper.

As I started reading the novel, two irksome things struck me from the jump:

1. Hanks uses footnotes throughout the book -- 135 in total(!!) -- to give additional tidbits about different lines in the novel. Occasionally, it's something truly enlightening or necessarily explanatory (for example, defining some arcane film jargon), but more often than not these footnotes just aren't needed. A footnote to explain what year air conditioning was installed in a house? To explain the route between two Californian towns, when the information has no payoff? Hanks needed to take a hard look at these sidelines to the main story, decide which of them were truly pertinent, and find ways to subtly incorporate that information into the novel without these distractions. A novel really, truly should not have footnotes unless there is a true narrative purpose.

2. Hanks has a tendency to introduce each character (or at least most of them), and then follow up that introductory scene with an overly long back story for how that character came to be who they are, without due consideration for how necessary this information is for a reader. As with the footnotes, sometimes these backstories are central to the plot, and other times they're just...not. Some of this work feels like it should have been a sketch in Hanks's notebook -- used for his own context throughout the book but left, as it were, on the "editing room floor" of the novel.

(A runner up, close 3rd -- Tom Hanks LOVES writing about typewriters, my GOD. Like, stop, we get it.)

When I was about a third of the way through the novel, having gotten through the early parts of the novel about Robby's creation of the comic book and moving into the story of Bill's work on the movie version, I was really starting to feel "down on" this novel. Some of the characters were intriguing, sure, but the pace was meandering, and the writing mostly unremarkable.

Then, something pleasantly surprising happened: The characters of Bill, Al Mac-Teer (loved her, as a character), and Ynez are introduced, and the process of planning and shooting the film starts to energize the novel. Once I had gotten to this point, about 100-150 pages into Masterpiece's 450-ish-page length, I started to look forward to rejoining the cast of this novel as I sat down to read another chapter or section. I started to get more invested in the fictional movie, Knightshade. And some of the book's flaws started to melt away in terms of how much they really irked me. (I got used to them). Toward the end of the novel, too, some of the threads that had been set up in the early sections with Robby came back to the forefront and I found that I had enjoyed his character more than I had let myself believe at first glance.

I've gotten to this point in my review without really addressing the Elephant In The Room: That this novel was written by THE Tom Hanks. Of Sleepless in Seattle, Forest Gump, Philadelphia, Sully, etc., etc., etc., etc. fame. THAT Tom Hanks.

And not only is this novel written by Tom Hanks, it's also -- truly -- a love letter to this industry of movie-making, which director Bill Johnson in the novel refers to as the "cardboard carnival."

In the very first pages of the book, there's a passage that struck me:

"I don't hate any films. Movies are too hard to make to warrant hatred, even when they are turkeys. If a movie is not great, I just wait it out in my seat. It will be over soon enough. Walking out of a movie is a sin."

(That this quote is conveyed in a letter by a character, a film professor named Joe Shaw, who completely disappears from the novel after his introductory section, is a whole other matter that would warrant a whole other review).

Here's a perspective on movies that feels, truly, like it comes from a maker of movies. Who else would be so in awe of the process? Most casual filmgoers have movies that they hate and/or turn off and/or walk out of. Most readers have novels that they hate. And/or that they DNF.

And that, it turns out, is the true strength of this novel: That Hanks, top-billed lead of so many Major Motion Picture Masterpieces, turns his attention to so many of the unsung heroes of his fictional movie, and turns them into leading players in his fictional account of this fictional film. That the fictional movie within the novel is a blockbuster superhero movie and not an "art film," helps to drive home his point that the making of the film, really, and its surprises is the art. Though we get many details about the content of Knightshade, the real heart of the novel is the fleeting family the characters in front of the camera and behind the scenes form during its making -- and which, they all know, will dissemble to the winds as soon as the last shot is in the can.

So, with all its faults, and with all the meandering, unnecessary character descriptions -- I have to say, a modicum of truth and love still came through in this novel. The love Hanks had for his characters, and the joy that jumps off the page during certain sections of the novel, as he describes some particularly moving aspect of the business of making movies.

Having gotten to know the characters of this novel fully, I was almost tempted to tip this rating toward the 4-star mark, but what holds me back is ultimately this:

It's impossible to read this novel without the perspective of knowing who its author is. Of reading the novel with that thought in the back of your mind, even if at times it's pushed to the background as the plot and characters take over. And with that in mind, I'm really not sure, if I'm honest, that this novel would have made it to this point -- published and on bookshelves in major bookstores across the country and the world -- were it not for Hanks's name on the cover, and the gravitas that his perspective on the movie business adds to the enterprise.

For, to have truly shaped this book into a real stand-out novel, Hanks either needed an editor with a stronger shaping hand -- or needed to listen more closely to the editor he had. It's clear from reading this novel that it's a "first novel." That Hanks falls into some of the traps of first-noveldom can be, to some extent, forgiven. It's a smart move on Hanks's part to focus on the movie industry for this first longer work of fiction. I think he benefits from -- and falls back on -- that expertise in shaping this story into something as entertaining as this book ended up being.

And even with this assessment, I still have to stand back for a moment and tip my hat to him for having written this novel. For all the critiquing of his book, by me and by others: He did the thing. He wrote it. He got the story out. And he crafted a couple of really endearing, likable, and memorable characters. Truly, it's not nothing.

With that having been said: I hope he gives it another go and writes another novel. For all the faults of this one, there was enough here to like that I'd give Hanks another chance at his Masterpiece.

And, really, if you're intrigued by the fact that Tom Hanks has written a novel, if you pick up the book and glance at its (rather nice) cover and wonder -- "???" -- you could spend your time worse ways than giving this book a read and finding out for yourself. You will certainly find things to enjoy here within these pages.

A fictionalized version of what goes into making a movie from start to finish. Starting with the events and inspiration behind the comics that led to a screenplay for a franchise, through the filming process, all the way to post production and the movie's release on a streaming service. Each character is given a background and an explanation for their part in getting the film made, with lots of references to the types of personalities one might encounter on set. Overall, this book gives the reader a good idea of what the movie making process is like, including the highlights as well as the inevitable issues that arise during production. The format changes often, which can be confusing, but it lends itself to the constant changes and flexibility that go into making a movie.

Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf for this advance readers copy, in exchange for an honest review. The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece is, essentially, a story about a story. The first major part of the book is set in the late 1940s and revolves around the Andersen family. The family’s life is rocked when the matriarch’s brother comes back and leaves a lasting impression on his nephew, Robby Anderson, who is just five at the time. This story becomes the source material for mega-director, Bill Johnson’s, next “major motion picture masterpiece”. We see an inside view of the film’s production process, from casting to development to everything in between.

Without a doubt, my favorite part of this book was the “source material”, where we learn about the Anderson family and especially about Bob, the uncle who came back into the story and kicked off the following series of events for the family. The details from this mini story made me feel like I could truly see and feel the atmosphere, especially post WWII, of this small American town. I would’ve been happy to continue reading about this family and was looking forward to where the book would circle back to this plot line.

As for the rest of the book, I appreciated the “behind the curtain” look at film production and the nuances that were described. For example, it was interesting to see what a well oiled production machine looks like, from the initial stages of getting new source material to initiating casting, etc. However, while these bits of information were interesting, I did feel like the book was a bit disjointed in the way it jumped between different topics and did not consistently move forward in the same plot lines; this made it a bit difficult to keep my interest and progress forward. I did think the addition of the comic book strips within the story really added to the overall reading experience!

I would be interested in listening to this book in audiobook format, as I think the writing style (I.e. long sentences, topic jumps, etc.) would be more successfully digested in this format. Overall, the concept of this book is very interesting and I enjoyed parts of it but, on the whole I don’t think it was really for me. I would recommend it to anyone interested in film production or films in general, as I think the books certainly pays homage to the complex process that is involved when making a major motion picture film!