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

 

"The formula for a successful comedy is to have an absurd situation, or an absurd character, played for reality. If the situation is funny, the scene will be funny, but only if it’s played totally real. If the cinematographer knows it’s a comedy, it will be too bright. If the film lab knows, it will be even brighter. If the wardrobe department knows, it will be colorful. If the composer thinks it’s a comedy, there’ll be slide whistles and triangles. The worst, of course, is if the actors or director decide they’re making a comedy."

After hearing Marc Maron chat with Barry Sonnenfeld on the WTF Pod, I was determined to grab myself a copy of Sonnenfeld’s autobiography. If you feel so inclined, strap yourself in for a wild ride.

I found myself guffawing on the train ride home, particularly around the author’s over-protective mother (can so relate Barry).

The narrative meanders in an entirely affable fashion as we embark on a life’s journey that includes a hilariously graphic career in porn (behind the camera) to director of photography for the Cohen Brothers’ Blood Simple and then helming such hits as Men in Black, not to mention the recent apple tv gold that is Schmigadoon (seriously if you love musicals watch this one now).

 Like most lives lived, you’ll find more than comic gold, including the perplexing story of cousin mike the child molester. I’m reviewing books that I read late last year, so a lot of the detail has skipped my increasingly lax memory ( I blame the pandemic), however the descriptions of the smell of a porn set have polluted my memory indelibly.

My only quibble is that I wanted more in terms of Sonnenfeld’s successful ( and often challenging) career. I guess that means he could pen another chapter, he’s only sixty eight after all. In the meantime, he’s a hilarious podcast guest.

5 out of 5, worst concert experience ever.

No one is talking about this by Patricia Lockwood

 

"Something in the back of her head hurt. It was her new class consciousness."

A debut novel that was shortlisted for last year’s Booker Prize, Lockwood’s No One is Talking About This, is impressive as the accolades sound. The format was initially difficult to contend with and then it hit me. Reading this novel was an exact evocation of the crazy world we find ourselves in at this point in history.

The barrage of noise from apps, the internet, and the feeling that we are all failing miserably at reaching the levels of perfection thrown at us are all captured in a unique voice that feels both crazy and familiar. The novel is unusually crafted in fragmentary paragraphs that recall the character limitations of twitter and resonate with a kind of poetry

 

5 out of 5… a fantastic debut

The Countess from Kirribilli by Joyce Morgan

"She wrote her books in looping cursive, before having them typed. But her typist was about to leave for England."

After having read Vera by Elizabeth von Armin, I was eager to learn more about its Australian author through this recent biography, especially since von Armin grew up in my current post code.

Much like the characters from her books, Elizabeth lived an intriguing life across three continents, married twice, bearing five children, enjoying a hugely successful writing career, and proving to be a fascinating character before her death in 1941.

Joyce Morgan’s brilliantly researched biography transports the reader back in time to an Australia of the 1860s which is difficult to reconcile with my surrounds today. It is fascinating to see central themes of von Armin’s novels played out in her own life story —marrying into royalty, enjoying the French Riviera, experiencing loss and a controlling husband.

Should this biography whet your appetite for more information on von Armin and her works, you’ll find the Elizabeth von Armin Society another interesting resource.

 

4 out of 5… local girl makes good.