Barry Sonnenfeld, Call Your Mother
Memoirs of a Neurotic Filmmaker
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4.3 • 64 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
**A New York Times Editor's Choice selection!**
This outrageous and hilarious memoir follows a film and television director’s life, from his idiosyncratic upbringing to his unexpected career as the director behind such huge film franchises as The Addams Family and Men in Black.
Barry Sonnenfeld's philosophy is, "Regret the Past. Fear the Present. Dread the Future." Told in his unmistakable voice, Barry Sonnenfeld, Call Your Mother is a laugh-out-loud memoir about coming of age. Constantly threatened with suicide by his over-protective mother, disillusioned by the father he worshiped, and abused by a demonic relative, Sonnenfeld somehow went on to become one of Hollywood's most successful producers and directors.
Written with poignant insight and real-life irony, the book follows Sonnenfeld from childhood as a French horn player through graduate film school at NYU, where he developed his talent for cinematography. His first job after graduating was shooting nine feature length pornos in nine days. From that humble entrée, he went on to form a friendship with the Coen Brothers, launching his career shooting their first three films.
Though Sonnenfeld had no ambition to direct, Scott Rudin convinced him to be the director of The Addams Family. It was a successful career move. He went on to direct many more films and television shows. Will Smith once joked that he wanted to take Sonnenfeld to Philadelphia public schools and say, "If this guy could end up as a successful film director on big budget films, anyone can." This book is a fascinating and hilarious roadmap for anyone who thinks they can't succeed in life because of a rough beginning.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Sonnenfeld recounts harrowing childhood experiences followed by his success in the film business in this episodic and uneven debut memoir. En route to becoming a respected cinematographer in the 1980s and then a hugely successful comedy director in the '90s, Sonnenfeld's difficult relationship with his parents is a recurring theme the title comes from an incident when his mother had Madison Square Garden interrupt a Jimi Hendrix performance to page Sonnenfeld about missing his curfew. Sonnenfeld employs a deadpan narrative style, an effective choice when recounting his early work in the 1970s porn industry and, later on, dealings with Hollywood players such as Penny Marshall and Scott Rudin, but jarring when dealing with childhood trauma, including repeated molestations by his mother's cousin and, as a five-year old, being asked by his father to convince his distraught mother not to commit suicide. Since these incidents are only treated superficially, the complicated dynamics underlying his relationship to his parents never become truly clear. Sonnenfeld is on surer ground discussing his artistry, with his look at cinematography proving a particular highlight. Readers will wish this intermittently entertaining and enlightening book had a sharper focus.
Customer Reviews
If the Cohen Brothers wrote and produced The Wonder Years…
I this book isn’t made into a series I will be disappointed. Sort of a Cohen brothers meets the wonder years type of thing.
I hope for a Volume 2
I don’t often finish a book. This is the first in years. I read a lot of online material and articles, but my poor attention span makes focusing on a book difficult.
I read this before bed most days and finished in two to three weeks. I’m so sad I’ve finished.
Mr. Sonnenfeld has a very funny take on things. Part self-deprecating, part bratty prankster. I loved to hear his honest stories and know he must have hundreds more. I’ve always been a huge fan of his work, as cinematographer and director, but now also a fan of his writing. I hope he writes more. And soon.