Thank goodness this is almost all recordings of the actual cast members, or I wouldn’t have listened to it. As it is, and since I am a massive fan, I loved it. I just wish there had been more from Chapman, but as he is dead and has been for some time, this wasn’t particularly possible at this time.
It’s not a long listen, and was rather fun. Please check and see if your local library has a copy so you can listen to it also. I feel it was well worth it.

4 stars, and recommended to all.

“The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons (2003), compiled from interviews with the surviving members, reveals that a series of disputes in 1998, over a possible sequel to Holy Grail that had been conceived by Idle, may have resulted in the group's split. Cleese's feeling was that The Meaning of Life had been personally difficult and ultimately mediocre, and did not wish to be involved in another Python project for a variety of reasons (not least amongst them was the absence of Chapman, whose straight man-like central roles in the Grail and Brian films had been considered to be an essential anchoring performance). The book also reveals that Cleese saw Chapman as his “greatest sounding board. If Graham thought something was funny, then it almost certainly was funny. You cannot believe how invaluable that is.'[96] Ultimately it was Cleese who ended the possibility of another Python movie.[97]”


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Python?wprov=sfti1

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Disappointing chat with the Pythons recorded in a bathtub. Or at least that's how it sounds. ( )

This is roughly the Python equivalent of the Beatles Anthology: the story of the Pythons, as told by them in new interviews, old diaries and old interviews (in the case of Graham Chapman, who is not in a position to give new interviews). So you get the same events from multiple perspectives, which is interesting; one example is the first meeting with Terry Gilliam, where everyone comments on the crazy coat he is wearing. This book also contains interviews with Graham Chapman's surviving relatives and is very lavishly illustrated with many never-before-seen photographs taken from the Pythons' own archives.

I enjoyed reading their perspectives and seeing the photos, but the layout can be visually distracting at times. Many pages use a monochrome colour version of a photograph as a "watermark" on a given page, but sometimes the watermark is so dark that the text on the page is difficult to read. I also sometimes found it difficult to pinpoint individual Pythons in group shots from their younger years; some photos had them circled and highlighted, while others did not. That visual inconsistency bothered me.

I would recommend this to Python fans with the warning that it can be difficult to read some pages. In the meantime, this has prompted me to go back to the DVDs and to hunt up a copy of Michael Palin's diaries. ( )

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 some tension and contradiction. ( )

Awesome book chronicling the comedy genuises Monty Python. You'll find tons of info on each Python, from when they were born to how they grew up and eventually formed Monty Python and became the legends that they are. The book also tells you of how the four seasons of Python went, who was responsible for what, how they went on to make four cult films, and beyond. It's a pity it doesn't touch more on each one's individual achievements after Python but as a book on MPFC and nothing but, this is the definitive thing. A must read (and own) for every Python fan. ( )