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Start giftingBarry Sonnenfeld, Call Your Mother
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“There are memoirs and there are memories and then there are oy vey! memoirs. BARRY SONNENFELD, CALL YOUR MOTHER is the most delightfully hilarious novel that Barry Sonnenfeld wrote about growing up and becoming world renowned a film director (Adams Family, Men in Black, Get Shorty...) . His career choice was basically an accident due to his Jewish mother demanding he stay at home for college and just attend NYU film school. Thank goodness she did. We have all thoroughly enjoyed his movies, now we get a peek inside his brain, to enjoy his life story. His porn chapter is beyond compare the most outrageous piece of writing you've ever laid your eyes on. But, I recommend listening to it on Libro.fm, where you get to hear Barry reading his own life story. This is the perfect book to read during any pandemic!”
— Marilyn • BookBar
This outrageous and hilarious memoir follows a film and television directorโs 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 entrรฉe, 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.
Barry Sonnenfeld is a filmmaker and writer who broke into the film industry as the cinematographer on the Coen Brothers' first three films: Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, and Miller's Crossing. He also was the director of photography on Throw Mamma from the Train, Big, When Harry Met Sally, and Misery. Sonnenfeld made his directorial debut with The Addams Family in 1991, and has gone on to direct a number of films including Addams Family Values, Get Shorty, and the first three Men in Blacks. His television credits include Pushing Daisies, for which he won an Emmy, and most recently Netflix's A Series of Unfortunate Events.
Barry Sonnenfeld is a filmmaker and writer who broke into the film industry as the cinematographer on the Coen Brothers' first three films: Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, and Miller's Crossing. He also was the director of photography on Throw Mamma from the Train, Big, When Harry Met Sally, and Misery. Sonnenfeld made his directorial debut with The Addams Family in 1991, and has gone on to direct a number of films including Addams Family Values, Get Shorty, and the first three Men in Blacks. His television credits include Pushing Daisies, for which he won an Emmy, and most recently Netflix's A Series of Unfortunate Events.
Reviews
"[Sonnenfeld's] moments of self-effacement...make him an ideal tour guide through the vagaries and hypocrisies of the entertainment industry.... He catalogs his own anxieties at length, sometimes to exorcise them and sometimes to fetishize them.... It is thrilling to ride shotgun."โDavid Itzkoff, The New York Times "If I went to prison, and I saw that Barry Sonnenfeld was going to be my cellmate, I would think, 'Oh, this will be a breeze.'"โJerry Seinfeld "The extraordinary thing about Barry is how many truly strange and amazing chapters he's had in his life."โNeil Patrick Harris "Writing a book this sharp, [Sonnenfeld is] puncturing the myth of the Director as God....A wild account of his life and times....Here we have not only a new entrant in the movie-director memoir genre but an even rarer beast: a book by someone in the entertainment industry who is neither self-aggrandizing nor self-important but uniquely, and painfully, candid."โThe Wall Street Journal "Hilarious."โRyan Seacrest, "Live with Kelly and Ryan" "Barry's memoir is amazingly honest and brazenly hilarious. Now excuse me, I need to take a shower and try to get some of those images out of my head."โCheryl Hines "Sonnenfeld's autobiography is laced with funny, sometimes absurd, moments.โWBUR "Anyone who has encountered Barry for any length of time has wondered how he came to be the way he is. The answer is hilariously, poignantly, and forthrightly told through various stories that resulted in me feeling nauseous, laughing out loud, blushing, and repeatedly saying under my breath, 'Oh my God, Barry.' Sometimes all of those things at once."โAllison Williams "Barry Sonnenfeld's memoir is not unlike many of his films. It's an incredible story about an unlikely hero. There is action, adventure, comedy, horror-and just a little bit of porn."โKelly Ripa "Hilarious, full of heart, and there are no typos."โMax Greenfield "I couldn't put it down."
โMarc Maron "The most purely enjoyable memoir I've ever read. The content of this neurotic genius's life is fascinating, complimented by his rare gift of storytelling."
โPatrick Warburton "Exactly everything a good memoir should be."โAudible Editorial "Outrageous and hilarious...written with poignant insight and real-life irony."โKATU AM Northwest "Very funny...Told in his unmistakable voice."โWAMC "A neurotic, revelatory treat...[Sonnenfeld] spins eye-opening yarns....It's brutally honest...memorable and hilarious."
โHollywoodInToto.com "His utter lack of sentiment when it comes to his achievements makes for a tonic against the typical showbiz-dreamer's success story. It is also a very, very funny book....Sonnenfeld is a portraitist with an ironic sense of humour some would call quintessentially Jewish, and he can't help but find the humanity and hilarity in the horrorshows...uniquely insightful."โFilm Freak Central "Hilarious."โAtlanta Jewish Times "An extremely Jewy memoir."โJewish Telegraphic Agency "Funny, wry, and thoroughly entertaining memoir. Sonnenfeld is, above all, a storyteller."โBookpage "A candid, sometimes dark, entertaining, anecdotal trip down memory lane from a Hollywood icon."โBooklist "Sonnenfeld makes his debut as a memoirist with a brisk, funny recounting of his improbable rise to fame in the movie world...Zesty anecdotes about family, marriage, and fatherhood combine with Hollywood gossip to make for an entertaining romp."โKirkus Reviews "The voice of Barry Sonnenfeld, Call Your Mother is one for this moment...chock full of humor and pathos."โThe Jewish News "A very engaging read."โEveryday Decisions with Jo Firestone "His powers of exposition are impressive....This is both a serious and a comical book--sort of like Sophie's Choice, only funnier."โThe East Hampton Star "Sonnenfeld leavens his many struggles with a substantial dose of humor. He might have endured much, but Barry Sonnenfeld, Call Your Mother: Memoirs of a Neurotic Filmmaker reveals Sonnenfeld to be a survivor. It's also a testament to how the rivers of fate can push you in unexpected directions....Sonnenfeld comes up with a wealth of entertaining stories....Revel in the ruminations of a man whose youthful traumas seared but didn't scar him."โBook & Film Globe "Amazing."โPeter Sagal, NPR's "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me" "One of the funniest books I've ever read in my life."โHolly Firfer, CNN First Reads Expand reviews