"Michael Palin Diaries 1969-1979: The Python Years"

I got a cheap hardback copy of this book ($5) and am fascinated by it. I was thinking about diaries in general. Granted, I seriously try to write this blog every day, but I don't really go on at length about my personal life. That being said, I don't think Michael Palin (of "Monty Python" fame) really ever intended other eyes to see his work.

Amazingly, the diary covering Python's first 10 years is surprisingly coherent considering this fact. And although I consider myself a pretty hardcore fan, I still discovered some new facts about Python.

For instance, when they shot the fourth series in 1974 without John Cleese, they considered doing seven more episodes to bring it to 13 like the other series. I knew Eric Idle decided to throw in the towel at this point, but here we find that he actually waffled for a bit before deciding for good to do no more TV Python.

There's other stuff like this. My only quibble is that the diary ends in 1979, when there were still a good four more years of original Python left, so no commentary about "The Contractual Obligation Album" (1980), "Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl" (1982) or "The Meaning of Life (1983).

UPDATE: In searching for the requisite photo for this blog, I have discovered that Palin has released a sequel covering the 1980s.