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The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons
by
Graham Chapman
,
John Cleese
,
Terry Gilliam
,
Eric Idle
,
Terry Jones
,
Michael Palin
For the first time all surviving Pythons have agreed to create the definitive story of Monty Python's Flying Circus and the 'genius' who created it. Over thirty years ago, a group of five Englishmen - and one wayward American - rewrote the rules of comedy. Monty Python's Flying Circus, an unheralded, previously unseen half-hour show of sketches, hilarities, inanities and a
...more
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Community Reviews
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Forget about the impact of The Pythons on British Culture and The World, what about the impact of The Pythons on
My Sense of Humour
!
I think it’s fair to say that I have a warped sense of humour, and for this I hold The Pythons to be fully responsible. I mean, one of them is from my home town of Sheffield – it’s clearly a plot!
The thing is, this has infected and affected my entire adult life.
Whereas before The Pythons, the worst thing that could be said about me was ‘Must try harder’; after The P ...more
I think it’s fair to say that I have a warped sense of humour, and for this I hold The Pythons to be fully responsible. I mean, one of them is from my home town of Sheffield – it’s clearly a plot!
The thing is, this has infected and affected my entire adult life.
Whereas before The Pythons, the worst thing that could be said about me was ‘Must try harder’; after The P ...more
...and now for something completely different, let me introduce you the Pythons autobiography by... the Pythons themselves (applause).
What you can find in this book is:
John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and yes, ladies and gentlemen, Graham Chapman live-dead from the afterlife talking about the twenty years they spent together.
Plus
What they did earlier.
What they did after.
Plus
Who they were before Monty Python:
their provincial childhoods, their boarding and public ...more
What you can find in this book is:
John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and yes, ladies and gentlemen, Graham Chapman live-dead from the afterlife talking about the twenty years they spent together.
Plus
What they did earlier.
What they did after.
Plus
Who they were before Monty Python:
their provincial childhoods, their boarding and public ...more
The Pythons Autobiography
is a funny and fascinating history of Monty Python, by the Pythons themselves: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. (Graham Chapman died in 1989; he's represented by excerpts from earlier books and articles, as well as by his longtime companion David Sherlock and his brother and sister-in-law John and Pam Chapman.) Switching back and forth from one member to another, it covers their individual beginnings, their coming to
...more
2006:
"Could I love Michael Palin more? No, no I could not. And don't even get me started on the whole getting paid to travel around the world thing and write books about it. Funny books. Between him and Bill Bryson, I -- Oh, but about the book? It's definitely worth reading if you're a fan, although it's a long one, and some of the pages have just the stupidest layouts ever devised - I mean, let us use tiny black print and place it on a background consisting of dark photographs. Or better yet! L ...more
"Could I love Michael Palin more? No, no I could not. And don't even get me started on the whole getting paid to travel around the world thing and write books about it. Funny books. Between him and Bill Bryson, I -- Oh, but about the book? It's definitely worth reading if you're a fan, although it's a long one, and some of the pages have just the stupidest layouts ever devised - I mean, let us use tiny black print and place it on a background consisting of dark photographs. Or better yet! L ...more
This is sort of like "The Python Anthology." The remaining members of Monty Python, as well as Graham Chapman's brother, sister-in-law, and longtime partner David Sherlock, tell the history of Monty Python in their own words. There are a lot of contradictions; no one can seem to remember who actually picked "The Liberty Bell March" as the theme, for example, and some things have become so legendary that one gets the feeling that everyone is telling the version that makes the best story (case in
...more
A weighty and impressive-looking coffee-table book,
The Pythons
makes excellent reading for devoted fans, though it's probably too in-depth for those who aren't interested in the nuts and bolts of how the series were produced. Although they don't deal with everything—understandably, after four decades I'm sure there are some things that can't be recalled, and everyone needs some measure of privacy for themselves—what is discussed is frank and honest, even if that honesty seems to have led to som
...more
The Autobiography of Monty Python by John Cleese, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and the rest of the team
Some say this is the best comedy team ever.
I tend to agree, even if I was not thrilled by the autobiography. To be fair, biographies and autobiographies are not particularly my favorite genre.
To make matters worse, I think I expected this to be as funny as the sketches and films.
And a book which talks about childhood, education in a rather serious manner cannot be.
And besides, the bar had been s ...more
Some say this is the best comedy team ever.
I tend to agree, even if I was not thrilled by the autobiography. To be fair, biographies and autobiographies are not particularly my favorite genre.
To make matters worse, I think I expected this to be as funny as the sketches and films.
And a book which talks about childhood, education in a rather serious manner cannot be.
And besides, the bar had been s ...more
The Python’s Autobiography by the Pythons possesses a great balance of their comedic nature along with a poignancy that helps the reader discover how they came about into being and the methods they employed in achieving several occurrences of comic brilliance.
The book begins with sketches of each member's past and posits the impact that certain moments and circumstances (i.e. abuse, failure, and isolation) may have had on their future. Each Python makes a connection between their younger lives a ...more
The book begins with sketches of each member's past and posits the impact that certain moments and circumstances (i.e. abuse, failure, and isolation) may have had on their future. Each Python makes a connection between their younger lives a ...more
I just saw this recently in the store, liked the structure of the book (ie Please Kill Me) and thought I might finally want to read about the Python members. I found it much more interesting than I thought, but this book did start to lag once Python had begun making movies as the hindsight still seemed emotionally charged and therefore was a bit restrained. Once the people get famous, they tend to obstruct their lives a bit and indulge in some revisionist history from time to time, but all in al
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It's... an account of the story of the group since the very beginnings (childhood and all). I personally found Graham Chapman's story (told here with some excerpts from other books and with testimony of his longtime partner, his brother and his sister-in-law) quite amusing. In general, the book is a pretty fast and entertaining read. Recommended even if you are not that much into Monty Python.
recommended for any python fan, this book covers pretty much all the bases. a quick and interesting read - i would've liked it if the pythons' involvement in this were a little more than just being interviewed, but i guess we can't expect much more from them at this point.
oh and there's plenty of sweet pics, too.
oh and there's plenty of sweet pics, too.
Collecting and editing a series of separate interviews is certainly easier than forming a collective narrative - not least because the recollections of the subjects in question differ - but that doesn't make this loose "autobiography" any less compelling. There are only two laugh-out-loud parts, but I wasn't expecting there to be any, in all honesty. What there is, is a lot of what I wanted to know about; the creative process, how the team worked and collaborated - the act of artistic creation.
...more
I would just like to say how much I enjoyed this book. This is a story about four Englishmen, a Welshman, an American (and later on an Englishwoman) who came together to form one of the most influential comedy groups not just of the 1960s and 1970s, but of all time. They did not just change the face of comedy, they managed to influence their own and subsequent generations. It is the words of the Python’s by the Pythons about the Pythons, including the late Dr. Graham Chapman (he is an ex-python.
...more
Despite giving this book 4 stars I must admit I hated it. Not because it was a bad book - it's a brilliant book and obviously the only way to do a Python biography that gives out a true feeling of how the Pythons worked together - I hated it because as a Python fan, or indeed a fan of any comedy group, you have this idea in your head of a very idyllic "behind the scenes" relationship within the group where someone says a funny word, they all laugh, and run off into the sunset together. Perhaps t
...more
Great book for Python fans or anyone who wants to know more about then, their journey and the turn that comedy had in the 60s in the UK. Which was when satire and all of that dark humour most of us grew up with was actually born.
This book is great fun but it is also quite informative. The British Pythons were all born during WWII and it is very interesting to read about their experiences growing up.
As you read the book you get this notion that Monty Python burst out of this river of change that ...more
This book is great fun but it is also quite informative. The British Pythons were all born during WWII and it is very interesting to read about their experiences growing up.
As you read the book you get this notion that Monty Python burst out of this river of change that ...more
All the Pythons (one from his grave) give a collective account of the career of the owner of one Flying Circus, an account made up of extracts from interviews and extracts from diaries and published memoirs. The late Graham Chapman is represented by his own surreal recollections and comments from family members and partner, while the rest discourse freely on their early lives, education, university experiences (principally Oxbridge) and occupations as comedy writers, actors and (in the case of T
...more
This book has sat on my shelf (bottom one it is huge) for such a long time I had just about forgotten about it until listing it on Goodreads.
Glad I eventually did get around to reading it. Immersing back into the surreal and ever so slightly absurd, yet familiar world of Monty Python was extremely enjoyable. I cannot recall an autobiography from several points of view, sometimes simultaneous and overlapping and of course all relevant to the tale! The book triumphs at these points, giving an insi ...more
Glad I eventually did get around to reading it. Immersing back into the surreal and ever so slightly absurd, yet familiar world of Monty Python was extremely enjoyable. I cannot recall an autobiography from several points of view, sometimes simultaneous and overlapping and of course all relevant to the tale! The book triumphs at these points, giving an insi ...more
In short: if you love the Pythons - read it!!!
I'd also start with a warning: this book is probably not as funny as you'd expect it to be. Which I didn't mind at all.
It wasn't actually written by the Pythons, but their stories were collected and then edited together to form their story. They were interviewed individually, and so in addition to actually reading what went on, you also get each person's pov, in their own clear voice.
It is a great look behind the scenes of a group which changed t ...more
I'd also start with a warning: this book is probably not as funny as you'd expect it to be. Which I didn't mind at all.
It wasn't actually written by the Pythons, but their stories were collected and then edited together to form their story. They were interviewed individually, and so in addition to actually reading what went on, you also get each person's pov, in their own clear voice.
It is a great look behind the scenes of a group which changed t ...more
I was expecting silliness, sarcasm, and absurdity; in short, I was expecting the Pythons' life stories to be just like the skits on the show. Instead, this book was nostalgic and reflective, with the Pythons waxing wistful about what brought them together (and what kept them friends). In short, it was five lovably crusty old weirdos reminiscing, and being proud of what they had accomplished together.
This edition is quite lengthy and probably not for the casually curious. Each of the Pythons gives their view of their story and it's interesting to see how they did not always agree. The format follows both their individual and group lives chronologically, jumping from one to another on every page. This is at the same time entertaining, informative and irritating. If you want the story from everyone's viewpoint, it does that; if you want to skip the more repetitive parts, you can. The format is
...more
Excellent book! Not that I read it, but it was nice to hear on the audiobook the history of the Pythons from their own voices. Despite the recordings being shabby, I even learned somethings that I never knew before, and I consider myself a great fan. You'll get something out of this book if you like Monty Python and want to know their origins and process.
I'm rating the audiobook so the 3 stars has mainly to do with the quality of the audio interviews. I liked learning the history of the Pythons and there were some humorous stories told but it was really hard to understand a lot of what they were saying because of the quality of the audio used.
My review is for the audiobook. It's only 2 hours long and some of it is very poorly produced. John Cleeses parts are particularly hard to hear. But other than that, this is definitely a must for all Python fans.
Some surprising facts in here about the Monty Python guys. Did you know that Playboy owns the copyright to a Monty Python Film? Read this for some interesting comedy history.
For fans of Pythons the best book on market. Follows complete story behind this group of comics who are not for everybody. The book is divided into several parts and each takes comments from all of the pythons. Brilliantly put together. May be overwhelming at times :)
A very thorough account of the Pythons humble beginnings within the confines of Oxbridge and US Midwest to international stardom and infamy. If you're interested in their backgrounds then this book is a good starting point. The chapters at the start of the book before they were "famous" so to speak, felt disjointed and all over the place. And even at some points VERY BORING. Hence it took me a real while to get into the book but once you get to the point where they are working together on Monty
...more
An indispensable book- comprehensive, encyclopedic, and fairly bursting with anecdotes as charming as only a Python tale can be. So why not five stars? Well, because approximately 7% of this book is completely unreadable. No, not because of the prose, but because the photo-layered layout (where monochrome imprints of Python photos and art underlay/lie the text...OFTEN IN NEARLY THE SAME COLOR AS THE TEXT) renders many pages completely, literally unreadable.
Nonsense.
Great book, though. What I co ...more
Nonsense.
Great book, though. What I co ...more
Of all the Pythonian material to come down the pike, and I guess ...there hasn't been THAT much, this one is the Pythoniest. Here the Pythons themselves tell their whole sordid story, individually and as a troop. This is an outsize hardcover, it weighs six pounds, (quarto) and includes a massive amount of pictures, paintings, drawings and ephemera. It's great fun, it's exceptionally well done, and it will give you days and weeks of reading and viewing pleasure both now and in the future. This is
...more
i was home sick from work and managed to read this entire book in one day. it was great - especially loved all the photos and the particularly the postcards sent to terry jones from the rest of the guys in amsterdam.
plenty of juicy information for the python fanatic, but i wanted to know more about the sketches and who wrote them. but there's plenty of other information to learn, straight from the mouths of the pythons themselves.
ps: john cleese really loves michael palin, doesn't he? haha.
plenty of juicy information for the python fanatic, but i wanted to know more about the sketches and who wrote them. but there's plenty of other information to learn, straight from the mouths of the pythons themselves.
ps: john cleese really loves michael palin, doesn't he? haha.
A long read, but still an amazing masterpiece and a must-have for any python fans. I remember, I read this in 6th grade, it was my first really big book. I talked to the librarian and my teacher, and I must be the only student in the world to get away with ready a book with "naughty bits" in school! The teacher didn't believe that I had read the hole book! I must've gotten like 50points for that! Ah... The good old' days.
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Graham Chapman was an English comedian, actor, writer, physician and one of the six members of the Monty Python comedy troupe. He was also the lead actor in their two narrative films, playing King Arthur in
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
and the title character in
Monty Python's Life of Brian
.
More about Graham Chapman...
