The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece by Tom Hanks audiobook

The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece: A novel

By Tom Hanks
Read by various narrators

Random House Audio 9780525655596
15.96 Hours • Unabridged
Format : Digital Download (In Stock)
  • 2 Formats: Digital Download
  • 2 Formats: CD
  • $27.50

    ISBN: 9780593635407

  • $45.00

    ISBN: 9780593635391

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

Learn More
Membership Details
  • Only $12.99/month gets you 1 Credit/month
  • Cancel anytime
  • Hate a book? Then we do too, and we'll exchange it.
See how it works in 15 seconds

Summary

Summary

A New York Times bestseller

A #1 Amazon bestseller

A Barnes & Noble bestseller

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

Editorial Reviews

Editorial Reviews

“A thoroughly engaging tale.” —Washington Post
“Tom Hanks brings his star quality to performing his digressive story…well worth the journey, including the detours. Hanks does most of the heavy lifting, aided by a ton of actor friends who add luster to the story. Ego Nwodim, from Saturday Night Live, is particularly adept as Al Mac-Teer, the almost superhuman assistant who proves to be indispensable to the production of the film. The audiobook includes a pdf of simulated comics from the work. A nice touch.” —AudioFile
“Lovingly crafted, a wildly entertaining story beautifully told. If you love movies, you’ll love this book.” —Booklist (starred review)
“I would have been happy to live inside this book forever.” —Ann Patchett, #1 New York Times bestselling author
“Wild, ambitious, and exceptionally enjoyable.”  —Matt Haig, New York Times bestselling author
“Tom Hanks is such a natural storyteller that everything feels like he’s telling this story just for you, at a dinner table, and you don’t want the night to end.” —Fredrik Bachman, author of A Man Called Ove
“An extravagant, buoyant, joyfully sprawling book, bursting with affection for its characters, for the intricate lore of the movie business, and for the many ways in which human beings are one another’s greatest opportunity.” —Tana French, New York Times bestselling author
The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece is its own universe, complete with a sun, a cast of circling planets, and a limitless number of stars. Its gravity pulls you in and its far reaching, multi-layered, rollicking exuberance holds you in place. I would have been happy to live inside this book forever. —Ann Patchett, best-selling author of These Precious Days
"This is a wild, ambitious and exceptionally enjoyable novel. A story about how stories happen, with a swirling kaleidoscope of characters across the best part of a century, and a real beating emotional heart. It has a lot of astute and fascinating things to say about comic books, movies, show business, America and human beings. I loved every page. —Matt Haig; author The Midnight Library, The Humans and Reasons to Stay Alive
"An extravagant, buoyant, joyfully sprawling book, bursting with affection for its characters, for the intricate lore of the movie business, and for the many ways in which human beings are one another's greatest opportunity. —Tana French, award-winning novelist of In The Woods and The Searcher "Do you want to go on an adventure? Who doesn't? This was a joy to read in that certain kind of way that only happens when it was a joy to write. Tom Hanks is such a natural storyteller that everything feels like he's telling this story just for you, at a dinner table, and you don't want the night to end.
With a unique insight and a rare eye for detail, Tom Hanks delivers a stunning, emotionally satisfying tale about the art of storytelling. I never wanted the lights to come up. I could not put it down. —Graham Norton
"Vibrant, jazzy, witty, snazzily written, with a great sense of time and place, this novel-cum-comic book is one of those rare, unique, pieces of fiction. Loved it. —Kate Mosse; author of Labyrinth
"A thoroughly engaging tale....This is a story about what happens behind the cameras. Hanks is at pains to impress upon us that moviemaking is a circuitous process involving a vast network of people — some famous, most not — showing up and doing their best. This is most definitely not a novel about the magic of filmmaking; it’s a novel about the hard work of filmmaking.... a love letter to the industry....The longer you watch Hanks create that glittery surface, the harder it is to look away. —Ron Charles, The Washington Post
★ "We all knew he could act, but the publication of Hanks’ Uncommon Type, his excellent 2017 short-story collection, proved he could write, too. Now he’s followed that with a full-length novel, and it is superb.… The writing is spot-on, bringing to the novel all the passion Hanks feels about his profession: “Making movies is complicated, maddening, highly technical at times, ephemeral and gossamer at others, slow as molasses on a Wednesday but with a gun-to-the-head deadline on a Friday.” The whole book is like that: lovingly crafted, a wildly entertaining story beautifully told. If you love movies, you’ll love this book. —David Pitt, Booklist (starred review)

Reviews

Reviews

Be the first to review this product

Author

Author Bio: Tom Hanks

Author Bio: Tom Hanks

Tom Hanks has won Academy Awards for best actor for Philadelphia and Forrest Gump. He has starred in many other films, including Big, Sleepless in Seattle, Apollo 13, Saving Private Ryan, The Green Mile, Cast Away, Catch Me If You Can, Captain Phillips, Bridge of Spies, and Sully. His other awards include Golden Globes, Primetime Emmies, and the American Comedy Award, among others. His first work of fiction is the short-story collection Uncommon Type.

Titles by Author

Details

Details

Available Formats : Digital Download, CD
Category: Fiction/Literary
Runtime: 15.96
Audience: Adult
Language: English

We love books, and we believe that you should be able to enjoy your favorite book whenever, wherever, or whatever you are doing. Audiobooks allow that freedom.

©2025 Urban Audio Books . All rights reserved. Privacy Terms of Use Purchase Terms Cookie Policy ©2025 Urban Audio Books . All rights reserved.