Barry Sonnenfeld, Call Your Mother: Memoirs of a Neurotic Filmmaker
Barry Sonnenfeld, Call Your Mother: Memoirs of a Neurotic Filmmaker book cover

Barry Sonnenfeld, Call Your Mother: Memoirs of a Neurotic Filmmaker

Hardcover – March 10, 2020

by
Price
$14.21
Format
Hardcover
Pages
368
Publisher
Hachette Books
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-0316415613
Dimensions
6.4 x 1.35 x 9.3 inches
Weight
13.6 ounces

Description

"[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."― David 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.'"― Jerry Seinfeld "The extraordinary thing about Barry is how many truly strange and amazing chapters he's had in his life."― Neil 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."― The Wall Street Journal "Hilarious."― Ryan Seacrest, "Live with Kelly and Ryan" “An engaging storyteller…. In his memoir, Sonnenfeld is both hilarious and tragic…. Somehow the combination works: Sonnenfeld’s breezy style engages us and makes us believe, as Will Smith has joked, that if Barry Sonnenfeld can be a director, anyone can.”― Jeremy Hobson, NPR's "Here and Now" "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."― Cheryl Hines "Sonnenfeld's autobiography is laced with funny, sometimes absurd, moments.― WBUR "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."― Allison 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."― Kelly Ripa "Hilarious, full of heart, and there are no typos." ― Max Greenfield "I couldn't put it down."― Marc 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."― Patrick Warburton "Exactly everything a good memoir should be."― Audible Editorial "Outrageous and hilarious...written with poignant insight and real-life irony."― KATU AM Northwest "Very funny...Told in his unmistakable voice."― WAMC "A neurotic, revelatory treat...[Sonnenfeld] spins eye-opening yarns....It's brutally honest...memorable and hilarious."― HollywoodInToto.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."― Film Freak Central "Hilarious."― Atlanta Jewish Times "An extremely Jewy memoir."― Jewish Telegraphic Agency "Funny, wry, and thoroughly entertaining memoir. Sonnenfeld is, above all, a storyteller."― Bookpage "A candid, sometimes dark, entertaining, anecdotal trip down memory lane from a Hollywood icon."― Booklist "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."― Kirkus Reviews "The voice of Barry Sonnenfeld, Call Your Mother is one for this moment...chock full of humor and pathos."― The Jewish News "A very engaging read."― Everyday 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."― The 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."― Book & Film Globe "Amazing."― Peter Sagal, NPR's "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me" "One of the funniest books I've ever read in my life."― Holly Firfer, CNN First Reads 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 Black s. His television credits include Pushing Daisies , for which he won an Emmy, Netflix's A Series of Unfortunate Events, and most recently Apple TV+'s Schmigadoon.

Features & Highlights

  • **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.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
30%
(254)
★★★★
25%
(212)
★★★
15%
(127)
★★
7%
(59)
★
23%
(194)

Most Helpful Reviews

✓ Verified Purchase

Very Entertaining

I have seen several of Barry Sonnenfeld's movies over the years and have enjoyed them. After reading the promo for this autobiography, I was intrigued and interested in reading it. It's a pretty easy read and very entertaining. I found some of it to be a bit choppy at times, but that may have been due to it being an advanced copy. Sonnenfeld is at least ten years older than me, but I found a lot of his upbringing to be something I could relate with. There were some disturbing parts, but overall it was a good read.
6 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Funny, Charming, and a Nice Read

A few months ago I saw my friend, a news reporter for a major, International news organization, interview Barry Sonnenfeld. During their conversation they talked about this book and I knew I needed to get it. If you don't know, Mr. Sonnenfeld is an American filmmaker known for his work on such films as the Men in Black series, Addams Family series, When Harry Met Sally and others, serving a Cinematographer, Director, and Producer (in varying ways on each). This man is a storyteller, and that's exactly what you're going to get in this memoir: stories.

I remember watching Holly asking him questions that turned into such great tales of his life - and I love hearing the behind-the-scenes stories from TV and film - listening to this smart, funny guy talking about life and his work. I knew I had to get the book, and am I glad I did.

The book is an easy, fun read. Go behind the scenes of this brilliant man's life and work, find out his thoughts about his experiences, and come away laughing - I did. There are numerous pictures to go along with the tales, and plenty of insights. If you like his films, admire his work, or just want to learn about someone interesting, I happily recommend Barry Sonnenfeld, Call Your Mother: Memoirs of a Neurotic Filmmaker.
1 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Probably the funniest book I’ve read in years

The author holds nothing back - you’re in for a roller-coaster ride of laughs from the first pages. At least this will help him pay for the years of therapy that he’s undoubtedly (and understandably) needed.
1 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Sonnenfeld keeps it light

I'm not a huge fan of Sonnenfeld's movies. I liked Get Shorty a lot, and the Addams Family movies weren't bad. Sonnenfeld started with the Coen Brothers, as the cinematographer on their first movies, and I love most of their movies. It sounded like he has has an interesting life, so I thought I'd give this memoir a try.

It was a mostly enjoyable read. Sonnenfeld's approach to writing about his life is kind of similar in tone to his movies, light and comedic. His childhood wasn't physically abusive, but it could be difficult at times. His mother was domineering and overprotective, to the point of having him eat lunch with her instead of the other kids at his school (she was a teacher) and his father was more like a friend than a parent. Most of the anecdotes in the book are of the painful and embarrassing at the time, but you can laugh looking back at them variety, but at times it does get genuinely dark. The most serious episode comes near the beginning, when he talks about how a cousin of one of his parents that his parents let stay with the family molested him and some other kids in their neighborhood.

HIs parents knew about it and didn't do anything about it. When Sonnenfeld confronts his Dad about this years later, he's dismissive about the whole thing. Pretty horrible stuff, and to have a parent not even be remorseful about it had to be tough for him. Sonnenfeld tries to deal with this with some humor as well without downplaying the seriousness of it, pointing out that his parents could be in jail for it.

After telling us this story, he moves back to the sort of painful but funny in hindsight stories that fill most of the book. There isn't a lot of insight or deep analysis about how he was affected by these things, beyond having a sense of humor about it, and ending up a very neurotic adult, the most neurotic man in Hollywood according to him.
✓ Verified Purchase

As the old saying goes, theirs no business like show business, recommended.

Barry Sonnenfeld's new book is titled "Call Your Mother", as this autobiography destroys the myth of the flamboyant movie director and instead offers the true take of the author as an insecure neurotic. In remembering his youth in New York, Sonnenfeld has crafted a typical middle class Jewish family portrait with humorous anecdotes of his upbringing and sheltered childhood. Sonnenfeld transitions from his insecure coming-of-age tale to honest discussions of his career and how he got started. Sonnenfeld, whose gift for describing the hardships and hassles of moviemaking in agonizing detail, starting out shooting pornographic films, later having many creative arguments and disputes with directors while working as a cinematographer. He presents an honest story by someone in the entertainment industry who is neither self-promoting or feels self-important but painfully, insecure and withdrawn. It seems that his success in entertainment is not really based on talent or ability but who you know and not what you know and most importantly timing and luck!
✓ Verified Purchase

Get It From Your Local library

The author of this autobiography is quite frankly a mental case. However, he also is an entertaining writer. My suggestion is rather than pay for this book, get it from your local library.

Related Books