Diaries 1969-1979: The Python Years Audiobook By Michael Palin cover art

Diaries 1969-1979: The Python Years

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Diaries 1969-1979: The Python Years

By: Michael Palin
Narrated by: Michael Palin
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Michael Palin's diaries begin in the late 1960s when he began writing for hugely popular programs. He recounts how Monty Python emerged and triumphed. From the success and cult status brought by Monty Python, Palin shares stories from their world tours, their stay at hotels recently trashed by Led Zeppelin, their battles over censorship, and how individually the Pythons went their separate ways. Yet at the same time they were working on the now celebrated series of films, including The Holy Grail, many of whose lines are known by heart to a considerable portion of the English-speaking world. The birth and childhood of his three children, learning to cope as a young man with celebrity, his friendship with George Harrison, and all the trials of a peripatetic life are also essential ingredients of these diaries. A perceptive and funny chronicle, the diaries are a rich portrait of a fascinating period.

©2006 Michael Palin; (P)2006 Orion Publishing Group Ltd. Biographies & Memoirs Entertainment & Celebrities Entertainment & Performing Arts Film & TV History & Criticism Memoirs, Diaries & Correspondence Celebrity Entertainment Funny Witty Comedy

Critic reviews

“Michael Palin is not just one of Britain's foremost comedy character actors, he also talks a lot. Yap, yap, yap he goes, all day long and through the night...then, some nights, when everyone else has gone to bed, he goes home and writes up a diary.” —John Cleese

“Palin's prose is spry and insightful, identifying the true warmth felt for Hemingway in these locales...Any trout-fishing, bull-running, wing-shooting Hemingway fan worth his martini shaker should wind this book fun.” —Library Journal on Michael Palin's Hemingway Adventure

“Is there anything Michael Palin can't do?” —Washington Post on Hemingway's Chair
Python History Insights • Daily Life Details • Pleasant Voice • Gentle Thoughtful Person • Intellectual Depth

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What a treat to have Michael Palin read his own diary. The audio format of this book adds in another wonderful dimension to a great story of the ascension to fame, and the difficulties of keeping five incredible comedic geniuses focused and from flying apart at the seams.

The telling of his hosting of Saturday Night Live had me crying from laughter in my car. Other things such as John Cleese' apparent desire to branch out, Graham Chapman's alcoholism, and how Michael deals with the death of his father, are deeply touching and show that he is still an ordinary guy that just happens to be an international icon.

A great listen, and a great performance from Palin in the reading.

A great romp.

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I really loved hearing the thoughts of an aspiring Michael Palin. I watched Monty Python's Flying Circus as a kid and loved the movies whenever I could. just hearing his adventures was fantastic, made me feel like I was having a drink with a friend.

always wanted to know what he was thinking

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I had no idea he was such a gentle, thoughtful person and his terse but poetic diary entries provide such contrast and depth to the Python world and priceless anecdotes.

An achingly modest genius

I have fallen in love with MP

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Michael Palin has been my favorite python since I was a child and this insightful diary of his time as a python on cements his position as my favorite. He is a wonderful father, husband and friend. He also loved what he did and was always humble. Loved it!!

Amazing

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I've been a Monty Python fan, and Michael Palin fan for years, so this seemed like a potentially fun book to listen to.

I loved it! It really is laid out like a diary, but a very thorough one. The book takes us through the beginning of Monty Python, with the tv show, and then on through "The Life Of Brian" movie. That's sadly where it ends, leaving me wanting more more more!

Anyway, it's a must-read/listen for anyone that likes Monty Python.

Loved Loved Loved This (Audio)Book!

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