42nd Annual St. Louis Jewish Book Festival Announces Director Barry Sonnenfeld as Keynote Speaker

By Tom Stockman | July 27, 2020

“Rough business, this movie business. I’m gonna have to go back to loan-sharking just to take a rest.”

Barry Sonnenfeld will be the keynote speaker for opening night of the St. Louis Jewish Book Festival on Sunday, November 1. Sonnenfeld will speak about his new book Call Your Mother: Memoirs of a Neurotic Filmmaker. Now in its 42^nd year, the Festival is nationally recognized for both its excellence and its size – it is one of the largest in the country. People from all backgrounds and faiths come to Festival events to hear premier speakers on topics such as history, music, politics, cooking, family, religion, sports, and more. This year, the Festival expects to attract even more people through its accessible online format. The Jewish Book Festival, which runs November 1-8, is a program of the Jewish Community Center.

Festival-goers can take advantage of the Premier Pass, which grants access to all Jewish Book Festival Events in November including preview events before the official start.. Passes will go on sale September 1st. Visit stljewishbookfestival.org for the latest information on summer events leading up to the festival.  

Film and television director Barry Sonnenfeld’s outrageous and hilarious memoir traces his idiosyncratic upbringing in New York City, his breaking into film as a cinematographer with the Coen brothers, and his unexpected career as the director behind such huge film franchises as The Addams Family and Men in Black, and beloved work like Get Shorty, Pushing Daises,and A Series of Unfortunate Events.

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.

In addition to Sonnefeld, authors include: Ron Balson, a festival favorite and award-winning author of Once We Were Brothers will speak about his newest book Eli’s Promise.

New York Times bestselling author of the VI Warshawsky, Sarah Paretsky novels will speak about her latest, Dead Land. Bruce Feiler, known to the festival for his many books including The Council of Dads, will be speaking about his new book Life is in the Transitions. In addition, Joan Lunden award- winning journalist and host of Good Morning America for nearly 20 years will speak about her latest book Why Did I Come Into This Room?