Customer Reviews
Half the Meat - By: Get Out of the Shelter, 15 Jan 2008 
My problem with this book is you get the lowdown on intergroup politics & business wranglings, production technicalities etc but very little colourful anecdotal material about inspiration behind sketches & the like. Whole series can be covered with little more than a passing mention of any of the material involved! Very frustrating.
Six autobiographies rolled neatly into one - By: Mr. Stuart Bruce, 18 Sep 2007 
The only book about Monty Python you'll ever need- six autobiographies rolled into one, great value, insightful, funny & very readable.
It tells the story of each of the Pythonsin roughly chronological order, from their childhood & growing up to their first comedy work, then how Python formed, then how it fell apart. It does this solely using the Python's own words from new & in-depth interviews with each one,orin Graham Chapman's case (what with him being dead), quotes from his previous autobiography & interviews with his long-term partner & his brother. It makes sense without any words, apart from a foreword, from Bob McCabe who has done an excellent job of compiling & ordering everything.
If I had to criticise I would say that the pre-Python school days & revue days sections are possibly a little too long, & the post-Python "what happened next?" section is too short- not even a tiny biography of what each of the Pythons has been up to solo.
Don't buy this book expecting it to contain unpublished sketches or alternative punchlines or anything like that (like a reviewer below seems to have done). There are a few anecdotes but there aren't any gags, as such. But if like me you think Monty Python's Flying Circus & their films are some of the funniest TV shows & films ever made, then this is a great in-depth insight into how it all came to be.
Wish It Was Something Completely Different!!! - By: Stephen Winter, 10 Nov 2006 
Well this was the first Autobiography I have read, & I didn't like it. Maybe autobiographies are not my type of book but for me this book was VERY boring. And I love Monty Ptyhon! It was,in my opinion, very slow & uninteresting for the main part of the book. It did improve a little to the back of the book but wether that was the book getting better or the anticipation of finishing it.... I dont know. I would advise people who like reading this style of book to get it because it's probably very good, but for anyone else, I wouldn't recommend it.
A TRUE MUST!!! - By: , 10 Aug 2004 This is by far the best book ever written about monty python. Even if you haven't seen everything they did or even you are a die hard fan (like me) here is every detail anyone could want to know. You need hours, weeks, months to see all the pictures & read everything. You can find out everything about their lives, the situationin british comedyin the sixties, how they met, the extremely detailed story of the flying circus, all the movies, the books, the albums & an enormous amount of unseen fhotos. A true achivement. Nothing less could satisfy the fans of those geniouses who made us laugh, made us think, made us better people, gave us great memories & now finaly... talk about it.
Thank you John,Eric,Graham,Terry,Michael & Terry.
Do you mean to tell me coconuts migrate? - By: , 24 Jul 2004 The shear volume of materialin this book is enough to keep one entertained for hours. I am also among the breed of younger python fans & have found this book incredibly interesting since I wasn't around to experience the python phenomenon first time round.
This book is filled with python facts & is a must for any die-hard fan. The only downside is the size & weight, but this downside is far outweighed ('scuse the pun) by the indepth material.
