The book was written by Gunn after having numerous long interviews with Kaufman about his life. The book is written in a darkly humorous style, and is an unusual mish-mash of personal memories, how-to-make-movies advice, and pure flights of fantasy, such as the fictional ongoing struggles with the book's editor, Barry Neville. Gunn had this to say: The book's working title was Sex, Violence, and Toxic Waste, but was changed by the publisher. The introduction to the book was written by legendary B-movie producer, Roger Corman.