Michael Palin has kept a diary since newly married in the late 1960s, when he was beginning to make a name for himself as a TV scriptwriter (for the Two Ronnies, David Frost etc). Monty Python was just around the corner. This first volume of his diaries reveals how Python emerged and triumphed, how he, John Cleese, Graham Chapman, the two Terrys - Jones and Gilliam - and Eric Idle, came together and changed the face of British comedy. But this is but only part of Palin's story. Here is his growing family, his home in a north London Victorian terrace, which grows as he buys the house next door and then a second at the bottom of the garden; here, too, is his solo effort - as an actor, in Three Men in a Boat, his writing endeavours (often in partnership with Terry Jones) that produces Ripping Yarns and even a pantomime. Meanwhile Monty Python refuses to go away: the hugely successful movies that follow the TV (his account of the making of both The Holy Grail and the Life of Brian movies are pager-turners), the at times extraordinary goings on of the many powerful personalities who coalesced to form the Python team, the fight to prevent a American TV network from bleeping out the best jokes on US trasmission, and much more - all this makes perceptive, funny and rivetting reading.
Diaries 1969-1979: The Python Years
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'This combination of niceness, with his natural volubility, creates Palin's expansiveness.' (David Baddiel THE TIMES )
'Palin's style is so fluid, and his sincerity so palpable, that it is often easy to underestimate just how talented he is as a comedian, a broadcaster and a writer..... they are just too good and his is too modest.' (Ruth Cowen THE SUNDAY EXPRESS )
'a real delight to read;' (SAGA MAGAZINE )
'his showbiz observations are so absorbing..... Palin is an elegant and engaging writer.' (William Cook THE GUARDIAN )
'Palin's steady eye, contemplative bent and instinct for honest appraisal make him the perfect chronicler of a frequently insane period which saw the 'Monty Python' team become the most celebrated comedians in the world.' (John O'Connell TIME OUT )
'a slow burn, revealing its pleasures only gradually, and allowing readers the warm glow of hindsight denied its writer...... this book will be the perfect present.' (Marcus Berkmann THE SPECTATOR )
'the charting of the haphazard and often perilous ascent of the Python phenomenon up the greasy pole of fame makes for delightful and often extraordinarily funny reading.... An entertaining and at times deeply moving read. With nearly two decades of recent dairies still untapped, we may confidently sit back and wait for more.' (Michael Simkins THE MAIL ON SUNDAY )
'a wealth of fascinating stuff about Monty Python.' (William Cook THE INDEPENDENT )
'our favourite TV explorer shows us the workings of an unstoppable machine.' (DAILY EXPRESS )
'a riveting commentary to a remarkably creative decade.' (ACADEMY )
'Palin's style is so fluid, and his sincerity so palpable, that it is often easy to underestimate just how talented he is as a comedian, a broadcaster and a writer..... they are just too good and his is too modest.' (Ruth Cowen THE SUNDAY EXPRESS )
'a real delight to read;' (SAGA MAGAZINE )
'his showbiz observations are so absorbing..... Palin is an elegant and engaging writer.' (William Cook THE GUARDIAN )
'Palin's steady eye, contemplative bent and instinct for honest appraisal make him the perfect chronicler of a frequently insane period which saw the 'Monty Python' team become the most celebrated comedians in the world.' (John O'Connell TIME OUT )
'a slow burn, revealing its pleasures only gradually, and allowing readers the warm glow of hindsight denied its writer...... this book will be the perfect present.' (Marcus Berkmann THE SPECTATOR )
'the charting of the haphazard and often perilous ascent of the Python phenomenon up the greasy pole of fame makes for delightful and often extraordinarily funny reading.... An entertaining and at times deeply moving read. With nearly two decades of recent dairies still untapped, we may confidently sit back and wait for more.' (Michael Simkins THE MAIL ON SUNDAY )
'a wealth of fascinating stuff about Monty Python.' (William Cook THE INDEPENDENT )
'our favourite TV explorer shows us the workings of an unstoppable machine.' (DAILY EXPRESS )
'a riveting commentary to a remarkably creative decade.' (ACADEMY )
Book Description
Michael Palin's diaries of his life before, during and after Monty Python.
--This text refers to the
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I feel I should start by saying I love Michael Palin's works, from film, TV to travel literature. That is why I feel slightly disappointed by his diaries. They were interesting for an insight into Python's workings and how Pailn worked during the seventies, but they did begin to drag awfully. There are only so many Python meetings, or film recordings one can read about before getting a little bored by them. Saying that, there are some fascinating anecdotes, as well as touching moments with his family. I especially liked when they climb up inside the Statue of Liberty and look forward to reaching her underwear! If you love Palin, or Python, then this book is worth a go, otherwise I'd say you could give it a miss and not worry too much.
Feel free to check out my blog which can be found on my profile page.
Feel free to check out my blog which can be found on my profile page.
24 of 25 people found the following review helpful
By jon ryan
Format:Hardcover
Perhaps the oddest thing about a book written by one of the foremost comedians of a generation is the lack of humour in it. But then, this was never designed to be a funny book. Rather it is the story, the journey, of how one of a group of six men became comedy icons, men who set a comedic standard that 30 years later is still to be transcended.
Comedy, we learn, is HARD WORK, not simply dashing off a sketch with a dead parrot in it and then settling back next to the pool, drinking Chateau de Chasselas and waiting for the bank to send a wheelbarrow full of money around. Rather, this book is about how the Pythons variously loved and hated each other, their doubts and egos, how they fought (and mostly, thankfully, won) their fights against censorship.
This is a diary, not a biography or a hagiography, and so we can take it as honest when Palin relates how, ten years after Python first came upon us, he still drives a Mini and how during a meal Eric Idle `reveals that three of the Pythons are broke` (although John Cleese has a `dirty Rolls`).
If you are looking for belly laughs, get a CD of Python. If you want to know about the egos and the alchoholism, the pain and the pleasure, buy this book. The book won`t make you laugh, but you may learn more about what makes Palin laugh. And what it cost him.
Comedy, we learn, is HARD WORK, not simply dashing off a sketch with a dead parrot in it and then settling back next to the pool, drinking Chateau de Chasselas and waiting for the bank to send a wheelbarrow full of money around. Rather, this book is about how the Pythons variously loved and hated each other, their doubts and egos, how they fought (and mostly, thankfully, won) their fights against censorship.
This is a diary, not a biography or a hagiography, and so we can take it as honest when Palin relates how, ten years after Python first came upon us, he still drives a Mini and how during a meal Eric Idle `reveals that three of the Pythons are broke` (although John Cleese has a `dirty Rolls`).
If you are looking for belly laughs, get a CD of Python. If you want to know about the egos and the alchoholism, the pain and the pleasure, buy this book. The book won`t make you laugh, but you may learn more about what makes Palin laugh. And what it cost him.
45 of 48 people found the following review helpful
By D. E. Viner
Format:Hardcover
This book is wonderfully vivid and engrossing - unlike so many post-Python retrospectives, which can often seem either lifeless or over-eager to grind certain axes, this takes you back to when it all happened, and also provides all kinds of delightful and insightful anecdotes about Palin, his colleagues and his comedy.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent book
I already had the book and ordered this for my kindle, it is an excellent read and a must for all Python fans.
Published 14 days ago by Mike Sturman
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good Read
I am not a huge biography fan but this book in the form of a diary I found very readable. It was interesting to see how the things you know about people are all linked with little... Read more
Published 19 days ago by Duncan Reed
5.0 out of 5 stars
great reading
brings back memories of growing up in the seventies. strikes, 3 day week, ira. shortages and the political up heaval of the time.
Published 1 month ago by Jollyjailer
3.0 out of 5 stars
Bien
Totalmente recomendado.
No te arrepentirás de la compra.
El envío rápido y seguro por, solo tardo 3 días en llegar.
No te arrepentirás de la compra.
El envío rápido y seguro por, solo tardo 3 días en llegar.
Published 2 months ago by Jolibud
5.0 out of 5 stars
parrott
well how intersting..really enjoyed this book..full of amazing insights into a legend of comedy and would highly recommend to all and sundry
Published 3 months ago by andy docherty
4.0 out of 5 stars
What do you expect??
Of course this isn't thrill a minute stuff.They are diary entries that the author had no idea would ever be published. If you want car chases and explosions look elsewhere. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Andy
3.0 out of 5 stars
Being Michael Palin -- there are much worse things you could be.
According to Palin, this book contains about a fifth of the diary he kept between those years, and one inevitably wonders about the stuff that was left out. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Police informer
4.0 out of 5 stars
Pleasant lightweight company more than any form of essential reading.
Reviewing serves the purpose of concentrating the mind and finding out - maybe for the first time - where you place such-and-such an artist or writer. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Peter H
5.0 out of 5 stars
Perfect your your hols!
The first thing that struck me when this arrived was how thick the book was (700+ pages), the second was how similar his diaries are (in tone) to most of his television work. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Duncan Beesley
1.0 out of 5 stars
Borrrrrrrrrrrrring zzzzzzzzzz
First of all,im a huge fan of Michaels work from Python through to his excellent travelouge films he made for the BBC, but this book is as dull as dishwater. Read more
Published on 7 May 2011 by Circles40
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