Rating: 
Summary: Lemon curry?
Review: Personally, I love this stuff. I can't get enough of the Pythons, and I love reading about the minutiae of their relationships. The book is also very episodic, which is perfect for people like me who have no attention span.But, as much as I love the Pythons, and thrilled as I am to hear about who was bickering with whom, and where most of the material for the Michael Ellis show came from, I can't imagine the casual reader having much interest in it all. This is not a book to introduce you to these guys. It's for the die-hard addict who's seen every show and movie so many times that they can launch into Pepperpot mode whenever someone says "Hello, Mrs. Premise..." But that said, if you number among the Python faithful, it's a must have. Regards, Ken Biggles, in a white wine sauce, with shallots, garlic and a fried egg on top.
Rating: 
Summary: WHY NOT JUST A BOOK ABOUT THE LAST 80 YEARS???
Review: Thats the question you might very well ask! I enjoyed the first version of this book. Mr.Johnson does indeed include some great photos and some great information. (I have read his stuff since his days way back when in STARLOG Magazine.). The only complaints I can say I have,are: #1 The over use of the words "he laughed"(Nearly ever quote by a person,is followed by that phrase. Makes them all sound like giggling ninnies).AND #2 The fact that Python,by Mr.Johnson's reckoning,can do no wrong. We surely all enjoy their work,but lets be frank,Python like the Beatles,are capable of producing rubbish,its not all solid gold. The writing at times feels very "fannish" but that is okay,the information is very valid. My only question is,why not just release the NEW Information as a NEW BOOK?? So what if its a small book! The original book "First 200 Years" is still out and about.(Even if this one is on glossier paper.) If you do not have the original book,get this version,NOW!! If you have the original,wait 5 more years for, "First 310 Years" and get twice the book at half the price!
Rating:
Summary: One for the completists among us (this means you)
Review: This had been on my "To Read" shelf since 1990 (I know because I was using the sales receipt as a bookmark). A biased, glowing look at the Pythons, it is full of useless but amusing trivia, which is exactly what Python fanatics like myself buy these books for. As a history, it's nowhere near the level of Hill and Weingard's Saturday Night (a look at the making of Saturday Night Live and its myriad cast members), but as histories of the series goes, it's about as good as it gets. There's also a complete vid/bib/discography in the back for those completists out there.
Rating:
Summary: One for the completists among us (this means you)
Review: This had been on my "To Read" shelf since 1990 (I know because I was using the sales receipt as a bookmark). A biased, glowing look at the Pythons, it is full of useless but amusing trivia, which is exactly what Python fanatics like myself buy these books for. As a history, it's nowhere near the level of Hill and Weingard's Saturday Night (a look at the making of Saturday Night Live and its myriad cast members), but as histories of the series goes, it's about as good as it gets. There's also a complete vid/bib/discography in the back for those completists out there.
Rating:
Summary: The ultimate guide to Python...
Review: This is a fantastic guide to Monty Python. Pre-Python, The TV Show, the films, the records: it's all there. It is full of facts & photos. I often refer to it while I'm watching a Python TV show or film on DVD. There are other books about Python, but none that cover the history so thouroughly. It's a very enjoyable, funny read. I particularly like the Pre-Python photo comic from Harvey Kurtzman's Help Magazine, which is reprinted in the book. It features John Cleese as a man who falls in love with his daughter's Barbie doll. This book, combined with David Morgan's book Monty Python Speaks, will tell you everything you want to know about Monty Python.
Rating:
Summary: The ultimate guide to Python...
Review: This is a fantastic guide to Monty Python. Pre-Python, The TV Show, the films, the records: it's all there. It is full of facts & photos. I often refer to it while I'm watching a Python TV show or film on DVD. There are other books about Python, but none that cover the history so thouroughly. It's a very enjoyable, funny read. I particularly like the Pre-Python photo comic from Harvey Kurtzman's Help Magazine, which is reprinted in the book. It features John Cleese as a man who falls in love with his daughter's Barbie doll. This book, combined with David Morgan's book Monty Python Speaks, will tell you everything you want to know about Monty Python.
Rating:
Summary: The ultimate guide to Python...
Review: This is a fantastic guide to Monty Python. Pre-Python, The TV Show, the films, the records: it's all there. It is full of facts & photos. I often refer to it while I'm watching a Python TV show or film on DVD. There are other books about Python, but none that cover the history so thouroughly. It's a very enjoyable, funny read. I particularly like the Pre-Python photo comic from Harvey Kurtzman's Help Magazine, which is reprinted in the book. It features John Cleese as a man who falls in love with his daughter's Barbie doll. This book, combined with David Morgan's book Monty Python Speaks, will tell you everything you want to know about Monty Python.
Rating:
Summary: It's actually 290 years
Review: This is an excellent tome, but not completely inaccurate (The album 'Monty Python's Flying Circus' is not recorded from the TV soundtrack but in fact specially recorded in front of a live audience. The German philosophers and Colonel Soundcheck do not even appear in the series!), but minor quibbles aside, this is the best book on Python I have ever read. It's as official as official can be (The Python Encyclopedia was 50% official) and is the best book in its field. Its glossy and smells nice too, but it isn't 'alf 'eavy!!
Rating:
Summary: One size fits all
Review: This may be the best book about python yet, but it is very annoying to read because it is rife with repetitions of previously stated information. Every time a particular incident is mentioned (for example: when Terry Gilliam and John Cleese met during a photo session for HELP magazine), the author goes back and retells the entire story and its events before adding the new bit of information that he could just have easily mentioned the first time around. This doesn't just happen in two's though. He retells stories sometimes as many as ten times! Also, when an incident is spoken of by more than one person, each of their comments are reproduced, even if they aren't much different than the other person's version. Then two chapters later, another person may talk about the same event, again, not adding anything to the story! I just wanted to scream "I just read about that! STOP WASTING MY TIME!" I think he may have felt it was necessary to put stories in proper historical context, but that would have served better by creating a chart of significant events and dates for us to refer to if we weren't too sure about when they happened. I'm enjoying it otherwise, but mostly due to the brilliance of the pythons themselves, rather than the skill of the author, who is very disorganized and writes with supprisingly little humor or cleverness. I recently read a book about the making of SCTV by one of the cast members, and that one was brilliantly funny, inciteful, and far more eyeopening than this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Annoying To Read
Review: This may be the best book about python yet, but it is very annoying to read because it is rife with repetitions of previously stated information. Every time a particular incident is mentioned (for example: when Terry Gilliam and John Cleese met during a photo session for HELP magazine), the author goes back and retells the entire story and its events before adding the new bit of information that he could just have easily mentioned the first time around. This doesn't just happen in two's though. He retells stories sometimes as many as ten times! Also, when an incident is spoken of by more than one person, each of their comments are reproduced, even if they aren't much different than the other person's version. Then two chapters later, another person may talk about the same event, again, not adding anything to the story! I just wanted to scream "I just read about that! STOP WASTING MY TIME!" I think he may have felt it was necessary to put stories in proper historical context, but that would have served better by creating a chart of significant events and dates for us to refer to if we weren't too sure about when they happened. I'm enjoying it otherwise, but mostly due to the brilliance of the pythons themselves, rather than the skill of the author, who is very disorganized and writes with supprisingly little humor or cleverness. I recently read a book about the making of SCTV by one of the cast members, and that one was brilliantly funny, inciteful, and far more eyeopening than this book.
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