The Story
**A New York Times Editors Choice selection!**This outrageous and hilarious memoir follows a film and television directors 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 Sonnenfelds philosophy is, Regret the Past. Fear the Present. Dread the Future. Told in his unmistakable voice, Barry Sonnenfeld, Call Your Mother is a laughoutloud memoir about coming of age. Constantly threatened with suicide by his overprotective mother, disillusioned by the father he worshiped, and abused by a demonic relative, Sonnenfeld somehow went on to become one of Hollywoods most successful producers and directors.Written with poignant insight and reallife 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 entre, 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 cant succeed in life because of a rough beginning.
Description
**A New York Times Editors Choice selection!**This outrageous and hilarious memoir follows a film and television directors 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 Sonnenfelds philosophy is, Regret the Past. Fear the Present. Dread the Future. Told in his unmistakable voice, Barry Sonnenfeld, Call Your Mother is a laughoutloud memoir about coming of age. Constantly threatened with suicide by his overprotective mother, disillusioned by the father he worshiped, and abused by a demonic relative, Sonnenfeld somehow went on to become one of Hollywoods most successful producers and directors.Written with poignant insight and reallife 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 entre, 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 cant succeed in life because of a rough beginning.
