|
Diaries, 1969-1979: The Python Years | 
 enlarge | Author: Michael Palin
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
Category: Book
List Price: $29.95
Buy New: $9.94
You Save: $20.01 (67%)
New (30) Used (24) Collectible (2) from $5.65
Avg. Customer Rating:  16 reviews
Sales Rank: 160026
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 672
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.2
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.1 x 2.1
ISBN: 0312369352
Dewey Decimal Number: 791.45028092
EAN: 9780312369354
ASIN: 0312369352
Publication Date: September 4, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: New Publisher's Overstock! May have a small remainder mark. We provide delivery confirmation emails that includes tracking numbers on all domestic orders.
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
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 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 page-turners), the at times extraordinary goings-on of the many powerful personalities who coalesced to form the Python team, the fight to prevent an American TV network from bleeping out the best jokes on U.S. transmission, and much more---all this makes for funny and riveting reading. The birth and childhood of his three children, his father’s growing disability, learning to cope as a young man with celebrity, his friendship with George Harrison, and all the trials of a peripatetic life are also essential ingredients of these diaries. A perceptive and funny chronicle, the diaries are a rich portrait of a fascinating period.
“Michael Palin is not just one of Britain’s foremost comedy character actors, he also talks a lot. Yap, yap, yap he goes, all day long and through the night . . . then, some nights, when everyone else has gone to bed, he goes home and writes up a diary.”
---John Cleese “This combination of niceness, with his natural volubility, creates Palin’s expansiveness.”
---David Baddiel, The Times
“A real delight to read.”
---Saga Magazine (UK)
“His showbiz observations are so absorbing. . . . Palin is an elegant and engaging writer.”
---William Cook, The Guardian (UK)
“A wealth of fascinating stuff about Monty Python.”
---The Independent (UK)
“Our favourite TV explorer shows us the workings of an unstoppable machine.”
---Daily Express (UK)
“A riveting commentary to a remarkably creative decade.”
---Academy (UK)
Book Description
Michael Palin's diaries begin the late 1960s when, he began writing for hugely popular programs. And Monty Python was just round the corner...
Here he recounts how Python emerged and triumphed. From the success and cult status brought by Monty Python, Palin shares stories from their world tours, their stay at hotels recently trashed by Led Zeppelin, their battles over censorship, and how, individually, the Pythons went their separate ways. Yet at the same time they were working on the now celebrated series of films, including The Holy Grail, many of whose lines are known by heart to a considerable portion of the English-speaking world.
The birth and childhood of his three children, learning to cope as a young man with celebrity, his friendship with George Harrison, and all the trials of a peripatetic life are also essential ingredients of these diaries. A perceptive and funny chronicle, the diaries are a rich portrait of a fascinating period.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 11 more reviews...
 I Can't Wait To Read About the Next 10 Years April 15, 2008
Michael Palin writes as he speaks, without pretension, and with a great deal of humor. These are his diaries, not initially meant for publication and thus full of honest, blunt observations regarding films, books, his own performances and the foibles of his fellow Pythons. Nobody escapes unscathed here, though I doubt anyone that Mr. Palin wrote about would dispute his conclusions.
The years 1969-1979 are some of the most amazing in Python history; they begin as the Monty Python starts filming its first television series, and concludes as Life of Brian is released and there is backlash from the religious folks who don't understand the premise (and many of whom proudly state that they haven't even bothered to see the film they're condemning). Between these two seminal events are discussions of filming on other projects, the need and the attempt to write, and a man's deep and abiding love for his wife, children and parents. Reading the passages about Palin's father weakening was moving in the extreme, and his pain was palpable as the roles between father and son slowly reverse themselves.
This is a hernia farm of a book at over 600 pages hardcover, exclusive of introductions and index, but you soon forget your aching arms as the pages fly. The life that Michael Palin has built for himself and his family is so layered, rich and interesting (while still being fairly "normal") that you only want the best for him and can't wait to read what happens next. I understand that the next segment of diaries will be released in September 2009, and I'm very excited to read about that next decade in my favorite Python's life.
Despite copious footnotes explaining the backgrounds of the people mentioned, those who are not familiar with British comedy and culture may find the narrative a little hard to follow, at least initially. Because I've been living in London for a year or so, the people that Palin encounters (and then writes about) have become more familiar to me. Even more interesting were his mentions of favorite bookshops, restaurants and London haunts which he enjoyed with his children (and, in some cases, continues to enjoy to this day). In that respect, the Diaries became a bit of a travelogue for my future travels around my new hometown.
Python Legacy April 9, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Like so many others, I was, am, and forever will be thrilled, inspired, and utterly in love with the wonderfully weird magic that is "Monty Pythons Flying Circus". The quirky and altogether strange world of the Pythons have provided me with many laugh induced bellyaches and watery eyes. It was, in a word, brilliant.
And, although I'm not happy about 'taking sides', as it were, I guess Michael Palin has always been my favourite. So it was a great pleasure to find this book on the shelf at my local bookpusher.
In it, Palin gives a very interesting, very candid, and (critically) not silly view of the lives and times of the Python group. We get a fine description of the other members of the group as well as Palins family, a subject not often explored. One of the marvelous aspects of this volume is, that while it describes the 'Python Years", it dosen't hang on the 'normal' points of interest that every other book and interview about the pythons, to this day, seems to find so absolutely necessary to repeat to death. It gives the reader so many apt and recherché descriptions of the small things behind the scene, that it truly ads a new and original dimension to Python legacy. Indeed not a small feat.
Any python fan would appreciate this wonderful book. I'm absolutely sure of it. Highest possible recommendation.
 Silly is the name. April 2, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Short, terse, but enjoyable odyssey through some of the most transformative years of the life of Michael Palin; who just happened to be one of the core members of a silly group of brits which changed the course of comedy.
Silly is the word. Palin's the name.
A Slow But Entertaining Read March 2, 2008
I have been a fan of Python for years, so I was delighted to learn of this book. I truly enjoyed it. It was very entertaining to read of the beginnings of Python, and the stories of Palin's other projects were also well told. His entries about his family made him seem accessible. He definitely tried to balance his family life with his professional career that became more successful as the years went by.
Charming history, observations and stories February 10, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
What a fruitful and stimulating period for Michael Palin from 1969 through 1979! The trajectory runs from the young man and his colleagues trying to find their way as barely-known humorists and performers in England to huge worldwide stars with a portfolio that remains strong to this day.
The diary shows a wonderful family man of wit, personality, sensitivity, talent and various other positive attributes. A book with only that would of course be rather dull eventually, and Palin freely admits his errors, worries, and somewhat edgy remarks about others. One can't help but wonder what was trimmed in the massive editing job, whether it was mostly day-to-day stuff or whether we lost some naughty bits and rougher comments. My guess is that we saw enough personality of the author that there was only modest need to excise nasty or regrettable words.
One of the better aspects is, in fact, that Palin paints quite human portraits of the other Pythons, some warts and all. There's John Cleese, often stand-offish and wanting to move on. There's Eric Idle, moody and worried about money. There's Graham Chapman, struggling with booze, and Terry Jones, who is closest to Palin, trying to find his way. Naturally, there are many positive remarks about the boys, too, and I particularly liked the behind-the-scenes stories during the making of the films and their writing sessions. How little money they made! To the Pythons' good fortune, the BBC gave up the non-UK rights to video.
Other highlights were Palin on Saturday Night Live, his first publicity tour to America and the subsequent rise of the Python shows on public TV, the decline and death of his father, and the general realization that he was becoming quite famous and the burden of celebrity was not always welcome. Quite a few famous people appear, with a fine example being George Harrison (a big "Lumberjack Song" fan). Palin is at first intimidated by Harrison, and eventually they became friends. It's a testament to Palin's charm, friendliness and interest in so many subjects (he reads constantly in the diary) that he has countless friends and contacts, and must be an excellent companion.
If you want to dip into the book for a sample, try February, 1975. Palin says, "Good news from New York - Python is top of the PBS Channel 13 ratings" on Feb 4. He complains, "I am so sick of being Python odd-job man, and yet the alternative is to not know what's going on in your name - which is infinitely more dangerous." There are family news, socializing with others, and thoughts of a future project, and on Feb 22, "I suppose this could be said to be the day on which Python finally died."
The author is clearly a pretty smart guy, and some predictions about the future and lamentations about the loss of scale in human development were spot on. I had to smile at one exception, when he thought Keith Richards wouldn't last long. But, hey, that's ok, you were far from alone!
Don't read the book looking to laugh throughout. "Amusing" and "funny" are more appropriate, and I actually laughed rarely. I can't see much of an audience beyond people with a positive view of Python, as the best bits certainly work far better for people with an appreciation of the material and (ideally) a recollection of the 1970s.
|
|
|
Copyright 2008 - RailroadBookstore.com | |
