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The Python Years

Diaries 1969-1979 (Volume One)

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The Python Years

By: Michael Palin
Narrated by: Michael Palin
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About this listen

 Michael Palin's bestselling diaries before, during and after Monty Python.

Michael Palin's diaries begin when he was newly married and struggling to make a name for himself in the world of television comedy. But Monty Python was just around the corner . . .

Enjoying an unlikely cult status early on, the Pythons then proceeded to tour the USA and Canada. As their popularity grew, so Palin relates how the group went their separate ways, later to re-form for stage shows and the celebrated films THE HOLY GRAIL and LIFE OF BRIAN. Living through the three-day week and the miners strike, and all the trials of a peripatetic life are also essential ingredients of these perceptive and funny diaries.©2006 Michael Palin Entertainment & Celebrities Entertainment & Performing Arts Film & TV Performing Arts Funny Comedy Celebrity Entertainment Heartfelt Inspiring Feel-Good Thought-Provoking

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Critic reviews

His showbiz observations are so absorbing . . . Palin is an elegant and engaging writer
Accomplished . . . If Palin's comic genius is a given, this is a more rounded portrait of the decade which saw the Pythons become icons. Our favourite TV explorer shows us the workings of an unstoppable machine
Palin's style is so fluid, and his sincerity so palpable, that it is often easy to underestimate just how talented he is as a comedian, broadcaster and a writer . . . [the diaries] are just too good and he is too modest
Delightful and often extraordinarily funny . . . An entertaining and at times deeply moving read
If anyone writes a diary purely for the joy of it, it is Michael Palin . . . This combination of niceness, with his natural volubility, creates Palin's expansiveness
Palin's steady eye, contemplative bent and instinct for honest appraisal make him the perfect chronicler of a frequently insane period which saw the Monty Python team become the most celebrated comedians in the world
A real delight to read
A slow burn, revealing its pleasures only gradually, and allowing readers the warm glow of hindsight denied its writer . . . This book will make the perfect present for those comedy obsessives of a certain age, who will know exactly what it is long before they have unwrapped it
All stars
Most relevant
He’s a bit of a hero of mine . Slightly biased but this is so great to hear . Having bought the book when it came out , and then downloaded the shortened version a few years ago , it was really nice to hear the full version . The dates were changing a lot , most of which was because of COVID and then that nice Mr Palin had posted on social media he was finally recording the audiobooks in full.
Very interesting throughout and not that we didn’t know already , Palin comes across as a thoughtful , generous and caring person who deserves all recognition for his works.

Can’t beat Palin

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Fascinating behind the scenes view of Michael’s involvement in Python and the many other projects which he was directly involved in as well as a gentle touch of the social history of the time.

Wonderful insight to the creation of Monty Python

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Loved Python as a boy and loved their films too. Palin has always seemed like a decent bloke, always ready for fun, and his account of his 1970s experiences was fascinating and very nostalgic for me too.

Elegant and wry reminiscence

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Credit to Michael Palin for providing the insight and narrating his own diaries. He provides a background to Monty Python that only an insider could bring. He seems to chafe a little against the nice middle class man he is commonly described to be, but that’s exactly how he comes across. A Hampstead socialist with a lot of unacknowledged advantage - meetings at the BBC that would be beyond most - and many descriptions of meals - “beef with an unexceptional sauce”. The person who comes through in the diaries is a decent chap who had the opportunity to make us laugh. And he did it very well.

A nice middle-class man

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Hard to imagine a more enjoyable diary and interesting life story, and it only covers 10 years! Can't wait to listen to the next installment!

Just brilliant.

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