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Title: The Pythons by Graham Chapman, Michael Palin, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Bob McCabe ISBN: 0-312-31144-3 Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books Pub. Date: 07 October, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $60.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.37 (19 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Weighs a ton, but that's half the fun! (what an awful joke!)
Comment: 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!
Rating: 4
Summary: Monty Python Fans Rejoice!
Comment: You know you've made your mark when: a) your name becomes part of the lexicon; and b) they start publishing huge coffee-table tomes about your lives and work. "Pythonesque," according to the ninth edition of the Concise Oxford Dictionary, is defined as "after the style of, or resembling the humour of, Monty Python's Flying Circus, a popular British television comedy series of the 1970s noted esp. for its absurdist or surrealist humour." [sic]
THE PYTHONS: An Authobiography is full of the loony business that made them global favorites.
The comedy troupe --- consisting of John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, Eric Idle and Michael Palin --- was its own "British invasion" in the late 1960s-early 1970s. Like the Beatles, they are still popular years after their break-up and, also like the Fab Four, the members of the "sweet six" have done well on their own.
Cleese, for example, has appeared in countless TV programs both here and in Great Britain, and is enlarging his fan base thanks to his role as "Nearly-Headless Nick" in the Harry Potter films. Idle has not been, keeping his face in the spotlight with TV shots and concerts. Palin and Jones collaborated on the BBC series Ripping Yarns (Jones is also the author of the just-published historical murder mystery WHO MURDERED CHAUCER). Gilliam, the token American (born in Minnesota), has turned his talents to directing usually strange films, including Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998); Twelve Monkeys (1995); The Fisher King (1991); Brazil (1985); and Time Bandits (1981), among others.
Sadly, Chapman, who earned a degree as a medical doctor, passed away in 1989, a victim of cancer.
THE PYTHONS follows its autobiographical style with each of the lads offering his personal warped spin on his background, how the group came to be. how it attained success and battled the powers that were (i.e., network heads and censors) over creative and philosophical differences, and all the ups and down concurrent with fame.
Their television program ran from 1969-74 and gave fans such universally shared memories as "The Parrot Sketch," "The Spanish Inquisition," "Spam," "The Ministry of Silly Walks," "Twit of the Year," "Crunchy Frog" and, of course, "The Lumberjack Song" --- images that still make them chuckle after thirty years. Each Python contributed a unique presence, making him perfectly suited for his frenetic roles.
Besides the small screen, but especially after the show's demise, the Pythons turned out several feature films including The Life of Brian, The Meaning of Life, and Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which --- according to Python's website (www.dailyllama.com) --- is to be resurrected as "Spamelot," a Broadway musical, in 2005 (although anything coming from that source should probably be taken with an extremely large grain of salt.)
Supplemented with photos and Gilliam's bizarre cartoons (his animations for the show were no doubt the product of substance-induced nightmares) THE PYTHONS runs somewhat contrary to their tag line: "And now for something completely different" --- THE BEATLES ANTHOLOGY used the same format. But that's fine. It's just what their devoted fans will enjoy: the same old silly stuff.
--- Reviewed by Ron Kaplan
Rating: 5
Summary: The Pythons
Comment: 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
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Title:Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Special Edition) ASIN: B00005O3VC Publisher: Columbia Tri-Star Pub. Date: 23 October, 2001 List Price(USD): $29.95 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $22.46 |
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Title: The Complete Far Side by Gary Larson, Steve Martin ISBN: 0740721135 Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing Pub. Date: 21 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $135.00 |
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Title: A Pocketful of Python by Terry Jones, Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, Monty Python ISBN: 0413760103 Publisher: Methuen Drama Pub. Date: January, 2003 List Price(USD): $11.95 |
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Title:Monty Python's The Meaning Of Life (Special Edition) ASIN: B0000A0MFJ Publisher: Universal Studios Pub. Date: 01 June, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.98 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $11.24 |
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Title: The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus : All the Words, Volume 1 by Graham Chapman, Monty Python ISBN: 0679726470 Publisher: Pantheon Books Pub. Date: 12 November, 1989 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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