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A Fine Line Between Stupid and Clever: The Story of Spinal Tap
For the first time since the film's 1984 release, This is Spinal Tap's director, writer, and star Rob Reiner will, along with his co-stars and co-writers Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer, finally tell in full the behind-the-scenes story of the legendary mockumentary credited as the pioneer of the genre. From the most famous improvised lines to the composition of songs about Stonehenge and big bottoms, no topic is off limits in this rollicking, detailed deep-dive into the film's writing, production, release, and long-term legacy.
Featuring never-before-seen photographs, collaboration from Reiner's co-stars and co-writers, and hilarious stories of the film's mayhem, The Making of This is Spinal Tap will have readers – young and old, fans or non-fans alike – feeling like they are in the writer's room crafting and filming one of the greatest movie comedies ever made.
Featuring never-before-seen photographs, collaboration from Reiner's co-stars and co-writers, and hilarious stories of the film's mayhem, The Making of This is Spinal Tap will have readers – young and old, fans or non-fans alike – feeling like they are in the writer's room crafting and filming one of the greatest movie comedies ever made.
288 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication September 9, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 7, 2025
But this goes to eleven!
If you love This Is Spinal Tap, you will enjoy this behind the scenes look at how the principal players met, and how the movie evolved from a short skit to a movie, then concerts, and finally a sequel coming out later this year. I was pleased to find a new interview by Marty DeBergi with the members of Spinal Tap at the end of the book.
Fun fact: My band played a Halloween show last year as Spinal Tap. As the bassist, I was Derek Smalls. It was hilariously awesome. We covered seven Tap songs.
Thank you to Edelweiss, Gallery Books, and Rob Reiner for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
If you love This Is Spinal Tap, you will enjoy this behind the scenes look at how the principal players met, and how the movie evolved from a short skit to a movie, then concerts, and finally a sequel coming out later this year. I was pleased to find a new interview by Marty DeBergi with the members of Spinal Tap at the end of the book.
Fun fact: My band played a Halloween show last year as Spinal Tap. As the bassist, I was Derek Smalls. It was hilariously awesome. We covered seven Tap songs.
Thank you to Edelweiss, Gallery Books, and Rob Reiner for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
August 3, 2025
My thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy.
For starters, this book goes to 11. I feel that much is obligatory. I'm writing this review the same weekend that the new Naked Gun movie came out, a fitting double feature of things if there ever was one. If you're interested in how a short skit in a show that no one really remembers became a thing we can all still quote ad nauseam, this is truly the text that serves as the fine line between stupid and clever. I already have a copy pre-ordered as a gift for the person responsible for making me like both the previously mentioned films but it was good to read this in advance. I hope there's an audio book, but I imagine that would be hard for things like the Real Life Tap stories of other bands and the initial courtship of Jamie Lee Curtis and Christopher Guest.
Make sure to stay after the credits for the in-character Smell The Book.
For starters, this book goes to 11. I feel that much is obligatory. I'm writing this review the same weekend that the new Naked Gun movie came out, a fitting double feature of things if there ever was one. If you're interested in how a short skit in a show that no one really remembers became a thing we can all still quote ad nauseam, this is truly the text that serves as the fine line between stupid and clever. I already have a copy pre-ordered as a gift for the person responsible for making me like both the previously mentioned films but it was good to read this in advance. I hope there's an audio book, but I imagine that would be hard for things like the Real Life Tap stories of other bands and the initial courtship of Jamie Lee Curtis and Christopher Guest.
Make sure to stay after the credits for the in-character Smell The Book.
July 22, 2025
My thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for an advance copy of this dual look at the making of the classic documentary about a band, a tour, and the importance of knowing the differences between inches and feet, along with additional interviews with the band and the director, showing how their lives have been since the film.
Many a review for this book will probably start with "This book goes to 11." I am going to try not to do that. Comedy is hard. To make a person laugh is a skill, to be able to improvise something on the fly, to make a situation go from normal to abnormal to bizarre is a talent that few have. I remember watching the movie This is Spinal Tap with my Dad on HBO, just when I was starting my love of music, but before I was aware of the behind the scenes tales involving musicians. I know we laughed, the rock stuff might have gone over my head, but the verbal interplay, the physical comedy brought us both to tears. As I have gotten older and learned more about rock and or roll, I can see even more jokes, more Easter eggs in the story. Especially with all the different editions that have followed. Few movies hit so hard, and even more create their own movie genre, the mockumentary, one that has continued with many successes to this day. Spinal Tap was truly ahead of its time, and now we can learn about the difficult birthing of the film. Almost as if a the movie was trapped in a pod and couldn't get out. A Fine Line Between Stupid and Clever: The Story of Spinal Tap by director Rob Reiner with Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer, is a tale of a labor of love, one that might have sunk all their careers, but one that like a mighty phoenix, was burned super bright and gone to 11 in our hearts.
The book begins with a man trying to be more than a Meathead. Rob Reiner had left a successful show, one that had made him familiar to many, but Reiner, like so many had a wish to direct movies. The only thing was he lacked the experience and an idea to get attention. During his time Reiner helped create a skit for a little watched television show featuring a band Spinal Tap, one that stayed in his mind. The idea that he fleshed out with co-writers Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer all of which were making their names in Hollywood was something like a fake documentary based on classic rock and roll films, like The Last Waltz or Don't Look Back. The movie would be a final tour, and it would be improvised, building on ideas the boys had developed, with no more than three takes to make it work. Funding wasn't easy, but enough was gained to film a demo reel, which got them the attention of a real studio. Who had no idea what they had. The movie came and went, but somehow built an audience. Rock stars were mad that their tour lives were being parodied. The English got it right away. And slowly a cult was begun, one that the members of Spinal Tap began to exploit, with further albums, tours, and shows, culminating in a planned sequel for 2025. In addition to the making of the book features a dual biography of the fictional band and fictional director, tying up some dangling issues from the movie.
I have read a lot of making of books about movies, and I can't remember any outside of Star Trek movies that features the director writing his own book. Reiner goes deep into the creation of the movie, detailing problems, money studio interference, law suits, and a lot of good times. There is plenty behind the scenes stuff, but even more a lot of how the movie was created. The sessions that gave them ideas. How actors were able to improvise so quickly, and the one actor that needed a script. Reiner looks at his fellow actors, sharing stories about their lives, marriages, and who dated who and when. Hints from the sequel are dropped, and the fictional follow-up interview with band and director is pretty funny.
Fans will enjoy this quite a bit. The jokes come fast, the stories are very good. I enjoyed this quite a bit, and hope the sequel will be better than I fear. Not just enjoyable but filled with lots of information about improvising, making a movie, Hollywood financing, and fighting for one's vision.
Many a review for this book will probably start with "This book goes to 11." I am going to try not to do that. Comedy is hard. To make a person laugh is a skill, to be able to improvise something on the fly, to make a situation go from normal to abnormal to bizarre is a talent that few have. I remember watching the movie This is Spinal Tap with my Dad on HBO, just when I was starting my love of music, but before I was aware of the behind the scenes tales involving musicians. I know we laughed, the rock stuff might have gone over my head, but the verbal interplay, the physical comedy brought us both to tears. As I have gotten older and learned more about rock and or roll, I can see even more jokes, more Easter eggs in the story. Especially with all the different editions that have followed. Few movies hit so hard, and even more create their own movie genre, the mockumentary, one that has continued with many successes to this day. Spinal Tap was truly ahead of its time, and now we can learn about the difficult birthing of the film. Almost as if a the movie was trapped in a pod and couldn't get out. A Fine Line Between Stupid and Clever: The Story of Spinal Tap by director Rob Reiner with Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer, is a tale of a labor of love, one that might have sunk all their careers, but one that like a mighty phoenix, was burned super bright and gone to 11 in our hearts.
The book begins with a man trying to be more than a Meathead. Rob Reiner had left a successful show, one that had made him familiar to many, but Reiner, like so many had a wish to direct movies. The only thing was he lacked the experience and an idea to get attention. During his time Reiner helped create a skit for a little watched television show featuring a band Spinal Tap, one that stayed in his mind. The idea that he fleshed out with co-writers Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer all of which were making their names in Hollywood was something like a fake documentary based on classic rock and roll films, like The Last Waltz or Don't Look Back. The movie would be a final tour, and it would be improvised, building on ideas the boys had developed, with no more than three takes to make it work. Funding wasn't easy, but enough was gained to film a demo reel, which got them the attention of a real studio. Who had no idea what they had. The movie came and went, but somehow built an audience. Rock stars were mad that their tour lives were being parodied. The English got it right away. And slowly a cult was begun, one that the members of Spinal Tap began to exploit, with further albums, tours, and shows, culminating in a planned sequel for 2025. In addition to the making of the book features a dual biography of the fictional band and fictional director, tying up some dangling issues from the movie.
I have read a lot of making of books about movies, and I can't remember any outside of Star Trek movies that features the director writing his own book. Reiner goes deep into the creation of the movie, detailing problems, money studio interference, law suits, and a lot of good times. There is plenty behind the scenes stuff, but even more a lot of how the movie was created. The sessions that gave them ideas. How actors were able to improvise so quickly, and the one actor that needed a script. Reiner looks at his fellow actors, sharing stories about their lives, marriages, and who dated who and when. Hints from the sequel are dropped, and the fictional follow-up interview with band and director is pretty funny.
Fans will enjoy this quite a bit. The jokes come fast, the stories are very good. I enjoyed this quite a bit, and hope the sequel will be better than I fear. Not just enjoyable but filled with lots of information about improvising, making a movie, Hollywood financing, and fighting for one's vision.
July 22, 2025
More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/
There are many interesting tidbits here but mostly it feels like a publicity piece for the next Spinal Tap movie. Rob Reiner likes to stay in the character of Marti Debergi often and there are even whole sections of conversations with the band that mostly serve to set up the next movie. It's a nice, if shallow and padded, piece that fans will enjoy. But at the same time, it felt like there could have been so much more said.The book goes into the history of the actors, how they met up and their unique comedic traits that were used so effectively in the movie. As well, we get some understanding of how hard it was to get made, the leaps of faith from friends and colleagues that enabled such a silly movie, and the surprise of its popularity after release. A lot of time is spent on the effect the movie had on pop culture and how its cult status developed rather quickly. Perhaps the best part of the book were quotes by other musicians who either enjoyed the satire or perhaps felt it was a bit too close to home.
A lot of what made the movie so good is explored here - the ability of the actors to ad lib the comedy on the spot. But I also appreciated that Reiner goes a lot into Harry Shearer's contributions: he seems to be the one person from the movie most forgotten. But the side actors are also given their time: from discussions of how Tony Hedra's "band manager" stints were developed to June Chadwick's turn as a Yoko Ono band wrecker who mispronounces Dolby as doubly. The most fun the book has is in Reiner detailing how so many of the great lines came about.
In all, an enjoyable if inflated read. It does set you up nicely for the next movie though. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.
July 31, 2025
A Fine Line Between Stupid and Clever, by Rob Reiner, is so much more than just a "making of..." book, it gives personal backgrounds as well as behind the scenes stories.
I did leave one thing out of the opening paragraph, and it took this from a very good book to an awesome book. Reiner, in character as Marty DiBergi, interviews the members of Spinal Tap, in character. You can hear the voices as you read it and some lines just cracked me up.
But the main part of the book is wonderful, told in a casual tone and with a lot of respect for everyone involved. I also found the interlude to be nice, hearing what some rock stars thought of the film and for a couple comparing their view of it before major touring then their appreciation after realizing how spot on it was.
If you're a fan of the film, you will love this book. If you're one of a handful who aren't fans or haven't seen it, I think you'll still enjoy the book and it will make you rethink your opinion or your decision to have not watched it yet. For fans like me, it will make you watch it yet again.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
I did leave one thing out of the opening paragraph, and it took this from a very good book to an awesome book. Reiner, in character as Marty DiBergi, interviews the members of Spinal Tap, in character. You can hear the voices as you read it and some lines just cracked me up.
But the main part of the book is wonderful, told in a casual tone and with a lot of respect for everyone involved. I also found the interlude to be nice, hearing what some rock stars thought of the film and for a couple comparing their view of it before major touring then their appreciation after realizing how spot on it was.
If you're a fan of the film, you will love this book. If you're one of a handful who aren't fans or haven't seen it, I think you'll still enjoy the book and it will make you rethink your opinion or your decision to have not watched it yet. For fans like me, it will make you watch it yet again.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
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