When released in 2003, The Room, an obscure, self-financed relationship drama by an eccentric self-taught filmmaker named Tommy Wiseau, should have been completely forgotten. Yet nearly two decades later, "the worst movie ever made"-as many a critic would have it-has become the most popular cult film since The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

AcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Let's Toss the Ball Around, by Adam RosenPart I: Cliché and Convention, Misapplied1. Chris-R's Gun: The Room as an Unconscious Parody of Hollywood Film Conventions, by Carter Soles2. Do You Understand Life? Do You? Tommy Wiseau and the Anti-Method Acting Style, by James Curnow3. "She Can't Love Anyone": The Evil Women and Tormented Men of The Room, by Lenika CruzPart II: Unlocking The Room4. Is The Room Worse than Vertigo? The Aesthetic Philosophy of "So Bad it's Good", by James MacDowell5. Everybody Betray Me! Revenge, Reverse Revenge, and Slave Morality in The Room, by John Dyck6. Anything for My Princess: Using Don Quixote to Bring (Some) Coherence to The Room, by Adam Rosen7. Crypto-Wiseaulogy: Uncovering Stanley Kubrick, Jewishness, and Judaism in The Room, by Nathan AbramsPart III: Cult and the (Class)Room8. I Just Like to Watch You Guys: How Screenings of The Room Give People Permission to Perform, by Ellen Wright9. The Room in the Classroom: How I Use a Bad Movie to Teach Good Filmmaking, by Ross Morin10. For the Love of Cult, Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Build My Own Screening of The Room, by Amanda Ann KleinPart IV: Fan Reception11. How Can They Say This About Me? Riffing Johnny, Lisa, and Denny in Online Homebrew Commentaries of The Room, by Matt Foy12. "Can We Please Not Talk about James Franco?": How The Disaster Artist Threatened The Room's Fanbase, by John Donegan13. I'm Tired, I'm Wasted: The Room as a Waste of Time, by Ernest MathijsPart V: Constructing Tommy Wiseau14. Oh Man, I Just Can't Figure You Out: Building the Persona of Tommy Wiseau through The Disaster Artist, by Hario Satrio Priambodho15. I'm an American, Just Like You: The Room and American Cinema, Identity, and Masculinity, by Landon Palmer16. To Err Is Human, to Auteur, Divine: Tommy Wiseau as Auteur, by Renee Middlemost17. I Don't Have a Friend in the World: The Lonely Authenticity of Tommy Wiseau, by Keith Kahn-HarrisWorks CitedIndex