‘The Story of Spinal Tap’ Book Due: A Fine Line Between Stupid and Clever

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A new book about This Is Spinal Tap is coming in conjunction with the eagerly awaited sequel to the 1984 mockumentary. For the first time, director Rob Reiner and co-creators Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer provide the full behind-the-scenes story of the making of the groundbreaking film and its upcoming sequel, Spinal Tap II: The End Continues.

A Fine Line Between Stupid and Clever: The Story of Spinal Tap, via Gallery Books, arrives September 9, 2025. It’s available for pre-order in the U.S. here and in the U.K. here. The film opens Sept. 12.

From the publisher’s announcement: Since its original release in 1984, This Is Spinal Tap has evolved from a beloved cult film into a cinematic landmark: an all-time comedy classic that pioneered an entire genre, the mockumentary. Now, Reiner and his cowriters and costars Guest, McKean, and Shearer, tell the complete story of the movie and its fictitious band—how they met, how Spinal Tap came to be, and how their low-budget indie film took on a life of its own. Years after the movie first came out, the Library of Congress selected This Is Spinal Tap for inclusion in the National Film Registry and Tap went on to play The Royal Albert Hall, Wembley Stadium, and to over 100,000 fans at the Glastonbury Festival in England.

“These go to 11.”

The quartet provide the backstories to the movie’s famous lines—among them “Hello, Cleveland!,” “None more black,” “You can’t dust for vomit,” and “These go to eleven”—and to such Tap anthems as “Big Bottom” and “Stonehenge.”

A Fine Line Between Stupid and Clever also features never-before-seen photographs, band memorabilia, and personal reminiscences of their enduring creative partnership.

Flip the Spinal Tap book over and discover the B-side, a bonus memoir by Reiner’s directorial alter ego, Marty DiBergi, in which he interviews Tap band members Nigel Tufnel, David St. Hubbins, and Derek Smalls about their musical journey and their drummers who paid the ultimate sacrifice to the rock gods.

Fathom Entertainment and Bleecker Street are bringing the remastered, remixed, and definitive 4k restoration of This is Spinal Tap, the 1984 cult classic mockumentary masterpiece, to theatres on July 5-7, ahead of the September 12 release of its sequel. Tickets are available here.