Rating: 
Summary: Weighs a ton, but that's half the fun! (what an awful joke!)
Review: But it's my only line!.....I recieved this recently as a "early Christmas" present, and have gotten about 140 pages into it. I can't sleep, I haven't left the house in days, the book is keeping me from escaping, I must continue reading.... Okay, maybe not, but I am quite into the book as of this posting, and I can safely say that this is ESSENTIAL for any Python nut. The mere collection of photos alone is worth it. And the interviews are well-done (though some of it seems lifted almost directly from the "Monty Python Speaks" book of a few years back, I imagine they just haven't thought of any different ways to tell certain stories). This is the Pythons themselves, telling their story from birth to death (and yes, Python without Graham Chapman is not Python). This is the "Holy Grail" of Python collectibles, and you won't find a better documentation of the group's history (George Perry's "Life of Python" is also good for those not willing to invest so much in this book, though it's much harder to find). Excellent book, from an excellent bunch of guys (one of whom has ceased to be). Five stars!
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Summary: And Now For Something Completely Distant
Review: From the overlong pre-Python segments (yes, we get it - some of them worked for David Frost) to the glossing over of Season Three (blink and you'll miss it) to the chronology-free pictures (look for pictures from Season Four routinely rubbing shoulders with pictures from Season One for no narrative reason)... this book is a delightful first draft. I look forward to the final version. Following the arc of these six comedic heroes as they go from ballsy, non-conformist artists to men who argue like they are stuck in the Argument Clinic itself makes "The Pythons" a depressing read. It certainly needs a better ending than Eric Idle's terse "we'll never do anything again" - a fact that probably dawned on the rest of us after the (relatively) disjointed "Meaning of Life." On the whole, the boys are just as you expect them to be. Terry Jones, the workaholic. Mike Palin, the nice guy. Terry Gilliam, the American. Eric Idle, the cunning linguist. John Cleese, the Tall One. Graham Chapman, the dead one. There aren't many revelations along the way, though a few interesting stories emerge from the group's earlier days. And some of the pictures - especially when they are relevant to the adjoining text - are absolutely delightful. For those interested in the group's work and not how much Graham Chapman drank, a subject discussed more than any aspect of, say, creating an innovative televsion show, the lighter and more concise "Monty Python Speaks" is recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Wha...? Graham's an author? But he's dead as my parrot!
Review: I loved Python. I do love Python. I have a cat named Dinsdale, and I even love the 15 meter python they caught in Malaya(I kid you not, 45 feet of huggable, kissable reptile. Check it out at bbc.co.uk), but right now, I think Idle is doing too much marketing. What I really want, rather than another rehash of Python..... is Cohenmas cards!! As in: Cohen, Brian- (n.) see "Life Of..". Actually, what I need is a set of DVD's of Ripping Yarns, or Maid Marion & Her Merry Men. Oh, well, I'll probably buy this anyhow.
Rating:
Summary: The last word on Python
Review: I was excited to read this book. After enough books had been written based on excerpts from obviously longer interviews, I was ready to read the definitive word on Monty Python and I was not disappointed with The Pythons. True, they may not describe the writing of every sketch, but that would make the book impenetrable and probably triple the length. This is an examination of the group as a whole and I was pleasantly surprised by it. I thought I knew my Python history but it was nice to finally see how things fell into context, particularly the troupe's early, pre-Python work as well as some of the fine details of the making of the records and books, which have gotten short shrift in other books. It's not always an easy read, which almost goes without saying. Some lasting enmities come out in the interviews and they can be discomforting to read. However, it goes without saying that without that if they had been removed, the book would have been lacking. If I have any criticisms of the book, it would be some of the layout choices. Like many similar books, the designers went a little overboard in some of their color schemes, using dark colors behind black text or complicated background that distract the eye from what you're reading, both very distracting. But that's a relatively minor quibble for what is, essentially, the final word on most (if not all) things Python. It's well worth the wait, the weight and the price.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful, but one thing's a bit too familiar
Review: I'd almost call this an "exhaustive" look at Monty Python, from the boys' own mouths. It certainly contains hours and hours of enjoyment. But the back-cover John Cleese quote on coming up with the Python name looked strangely familiar, and a moment's research explains why. This quote is actually found on page 26 of a "completely different" book: David Morgan's MONTY PYTHON SPEAKS!, the Python oral history I edited more than five years ago. One star docked for failure to credit this quote to another interviewer -- and I guess this means you'll need that one too for the *complete* story.
Rating:
Summary: This Book Is Absolutely Amazing
Review: If you are a Monty Python lover, this is something you MUST OWN. As a Monty Python fan who owns just about every video, DVD, book, album, etc. there is, I have to say that this blows away everything I've ever owned. When I opened up the package and did a quick look-over of the book, I almost passed out with joy. There have been *many* Python books that are good or OK, but this is just fabulous. The information is right out of the mouths of the Pythons (much like "Monty Python Speaks," but to an even greater extent). The pictures are new (to most people) and beautiful. It is obvious that somebody took enormous pride in the making of this book. Other than the GARGANTUAN size of the book, there is nothing negative I can say. This giant, heaping pile of Python is fantabulous and waiting for you to buy it.
Rating:
Summary: The Life Of Monty
Review: In many ways, this large tome is infinitely more satisfying than any of their shows, movies and records because of just how funny, sad, amazing, hysterical, and bizarre the reality is. They were quite a jolt to American TV and International film, but in fact, followed in a rather historical line directly from the Goon Show, Morecombe and Wise, David Frost. British comedy really had no where else to go but the land of the Pythons.
Here in this book you'll get what amounts to 6, and sometimes more, accounts of how they came together via their Oxford and Cambridge revues, to spot each other as worthy colleagues. Certainly, it was writing for Frost that sealed the decision, but even as the essential teams of Cleese and Chapman, Jones and Palin had coalesced with Gilliam and Idle idling in the between them, you get from their stories pre and post Monty that they knew they were destined to work with each other almost from their first meetings. Jones comes across as the sensible Welshman with a keen ear for Everyman/woman. Palin is the adorable naughty fellow with a nod and a wink, whose ability to fend off the assaults of Cleese and Chapman made for the most memorable moments in Python history. Cleese seemed shot out of a cannon at birth and never looked down. His ability and courage to push the envelope as far as he could (it was likely he who suggested they do away with punch lines) gave them an insanity that was extraordinarily daring. Who else would have the chutzpah to intone in LIFE OF BRIAN among the Jewish rebels, "What have the Romans done for us lately?" Idle is the charmer, and the smarmy raconteur who seemed most equipped to handle the bridge between the Oxford and Cambridge camps. And it was his friendship with George Harrison that enabled Monty to actually tackle LIFE in all its repercussions. Chapman is the tragic figure in all of this. Self-deprecating, guilt ridden "my parents were quite unprepared to have begat a homosexual. They'd have much preferred a heterosexual black Jew,", he pursued a life of excess that often left the others hanging in the balance, and yet it was Chapman as the quintessentially clueless upper class Brit that seemed to identify how disconnected stratas fo British society had become. His Brian was perhaps even more of a compassionate hero for the ages than the genuine character he was meant to allude to, and yet he offered none of that sympathy to himself. Gilliam seemed always odd man in, and fit the others like a bad suit, which was what made him that perfect finishing touch for the remarkable trajectory in the Life of Monty.
They hold nothing back, and the ugly squabbles, the anxieties, the dismay at Chapman's self-destructive activities are also frankly and compassionately addressed. Much like the Beatles, once Chapman succumbed to Aids and then cancer, there would be no real reunion effort. The fellowship had indeed been broken. Various members of the team managed to get on each other's nerves from time to time. Cleese's legendary arrogant contrariness is clearly on display. There was always more Basil Fawlty to him that he was quite prepared to self-parody than you may have guessed. And through it all, even as they re-convened for this project (much like the Beatles' ANTHOLOGY), there is that undeniable creativity. No one has ever acheived what they have in comedy, save possibly the Marx Brothers.
The book is beautifully put together, and covers their story thus far. If you are a fan, you will positively love this. Each of them is given all they room they need, even Chapman, to tell it from their angular vision. Taking all the angles together, it makes for quite a story.
Rating:
Summary: Not the Spanish Inquisition, but an important document
Review: Over the years, Monty Python's Flying Circus has been elevated to a stellar status far beyond the expectations of its creators. Much of that has been achieved through continuing popularity with Americans, who didn't start to get the joke until long after the final TV episode had been screened here in the UK. And even the Pythons themselves do not quite realise their impact on the world: on this CD, Michael Palin talks about the creation of the 'Spam' sketch and the bizarre injection of some Vikings into the scene, with no inkling of the significance of spam in today's Internet world. If you don't know Monty Python's humour, this is not the place to start. Go and buy 'Another Monty Python Record' on CD, or 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' on DVD. This double-CD set is aimed at Python completists, and anyone interested in how great creative teams come together, get their ideas and work together. There's nothing here that isn't also in the bumper coffee-table book of the same name, which also has many magnificent, previously unseen photos. But on this CD, you get the Pythons' own voices, so it's more intimate, and the format enables those of us who spend more time in the car than reading books, to absorb some of the material. Sound quality is variable. Michael Palin is very clear, though the interview is frequently interrupted by phone calls (presumably from BBC producers wanting to send him off to the Amazon). At the other end of the sonic scale, John Cleese is inteviewed in what seems to be a cavern, about 30 feet from a puny microphone, and his cutlery is sometimes more audible than his voice. Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones come somewhere in between. All the contributors put some effort into dredging up memories from the distant past, i.e. 1960s and earlier. They know this book/CD, while maybe not the definitive biography, isn't going to be yet another fanzine. By and large, they're pretty serious. (The Pythons seem to have found it harder and harder to be funny, or at least zany, since about 1980.) And they're remarkably honest -- all of them admit that 'The Meaning of Life' was not as good a film as it should have been. There's a lot of giving credit and taking credit -- originally the entire show was billed as a total team effort, but this CD reveals a certain paradox: having first said that every sketch was subject to team review and enhancement, each writer then goes on to say of certain sketches, "That was one of mine" or "That was one I wrote with John". The influence of 'The Goon Show' and 'Beyond the Fringe' becomes apparent from these recordings. (So much so that I went out and bought a BtF CD.) Of particular interest is the immediate predecessor to Python, namely the children's programme DO NOT ADJUST YOUR SET, written by Michael, Terry J and Eric, with cartoons added by Terry G. For me, that series is just a distant memory in black and white. But the way the Pythons refer to it here makes it seem like it was pretty much Version zero of Monty Python. Terry Jones admits that they wrote it for themselves, not for children, and it just happened to be scheduled during the children's TV slot on Wednesday afternoons. In the absence of any DVDs, videos or script-books from that series, we will just have to take their word for it. It's fascinating to hear Eric Idle talk about the writing process: he wrote mostly on his own, but occasionally wrote with others. He comments that whereas he likes to hop around, trying to create more highlights in a sketch, John Cleese works in a very linear fashion, only progressing to the second line in a sketch when he has worked out the first line in immense detail. John Cleese talks about his dislike of puns, the lowest form of wit, in his words. Terry Jones comments on the stream-of-consciousness feel to each episode. Hopefully this CD will enhance Michael Palin's status in the comic pantheon. John Cleese is always regarded as a god because he also created 'Fawlty Towers' and because of his previous work on 'The Frost Report'. But most of his best sketches work as well on radio as they do on TV. It's clear from this CD that Palin (as well as Gilliam) was the genius behind much of the visual humour that made Python something completely different from 'Beyond the Fringe' et al. Cleese could never be described as 'zany', if that means lovably ridiculous. Even on this CD, Cleese comes across as coldly analytical, whereas Michael is just so damned affable! So there you go, five stars for content, minus one for sound quality. I wish it had been much longer!
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Summary: The Pythons
Review: Santa's sled has pulled in early this year and left every naughty and nice boy and girl the definitive story of the preeminent English comedy consortium of our day, Monty Python. The surviving members of the group-John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin-collaborate with noted film critic Bob McCabe (Dark Knights and Holy Fools: The Art and Films of Terry Gilliam) to tell the Python story in this magnum opus of previously unpublished diary entries, interviews, and a sumptuous photographic buffet of more than 1000 images and illustrations. Designed much like the Beatles Anthology, the text is divided into seven sections that detail the Pythons, their biographies, life before their union, Monty Python's Flying Circus, the Python films, Graham Chapman's death, and their subsequent individual projects. Pythonophiles have been blessed with numerous celebratory texts, notably Kim Johnson's troika (now all o.p.), but this glorious offering is the bible, the last word, and, yes-the full Monty. One of this season's best offerings; a pox on every library that doesn't acquire it
Rating:
Summary: No. 1: The Larch
Review: The Pythons is every fan's dream (unless of course they have a bad back...this thing weighs a ton!). This new book is an inside look at the Pythons from childhood to the present. The best part of it is, though, that it is written by the Pythons themselves. This is no second hand fan book, it is THE comprehensive reference to one of the century's funniest comedy troupes. I was a bit skeptical that The Pythons might just be a cash-in by the Python gang, but I was wrong. The book is beautiful and complete. As a fan, I was delighted to see that The Pythons included recaps of my favorite bits, while also giving me the background story behind them. Reading what John Cleese has to say about coming up with the dead parrot sketch is almost funnier than the sketch itself. For casual fans, The Pythons is an amazing starting point and for die-hards the pictures (it's LOADED with them) and the behind the scenes access makes this a must-have.
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