Customer Reviews

The First 20 Years of Monty Python

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This may be the best book about python yet, but it is very annoying to read because it is rife with repetitions of previously stated information. Every time a particular incident is mentioned (for example: when Terry Gilliam and John Cleese met during a photo session for HELP magazine), the author goes back and retells the entire story and its events before adding the new bit of information that he could just have easily mentioned the first time around. This doesn't just happen in two's though. He retells stories sometimes as many as ten times! Also, when an incident is spoken of by more than one person, each of their comments are reproduced, even if they aren't much different than the other person's version. Then two chapters later, another person may talk about the same event, again, not adding anything to the story! I just wanted to scream "I just read about that! STOP WASTING MY TIME!" I think he may have felt it was necessary to put stories in proper historical context, but that would have served better by creating a chart of significant events and dates for us to refer to if we weren't too sure about when they happened. I'm enjoying it otherwise, but mostly due to the brilliance of the pythons themselves, rather than the skill of the author, who is very disorganized and writes with supprisingly little humor or cleverness. I recently read a book about the making of SCTV by one of the cast members, and that one was brilliantly funny, inciteful, and far more eyeopening than this book.

Personally, I love this stuff. I can't get enough of the Pythons, and I love reading about the minutiae of their relationships. The book is also very episodic, which is perfect for people like me who have no attention span.

But, as much as I love the Pythons, and thrilled as I am to hear about who was bickering with whom, and where most of the material for the Michael Ellis show came from, I can't imagine the casual reader having much interest in it all. This is not a book to introduce you to these guys. It's for the die-hard addict who's seen every show and movie so many times that they can launch into Pepperpot mode whenever someone says "Hello, Mrs. Premise..."

But that said, if you number among the Python faithful, it's a must have.

Regards, Ken Biggles, in a white wine sauce, with shallots, garlic and a fried egg on top.

This is a fantastic guide to Monty Python. Pre-Python, The TV Show, the films, the records: it's all there. It is full of facts & photos. I often refer to it while I'm watching a Python TV show or film on DVD. There are other books about Python, but none that cover the history so thouroughly. It's a very enjoyable, funny read. I particularly like the Pre-Python photo comic from Harvey Kurtzman's Help Magazine, which is reprinted in the book. It features John Cleese as a man who falls in love with his daughter's Barbie doll. This book, combined with David Morgan's book Monty Python Speaks, will tell you everything you want to know about Monty Python.

Kim Howard Johnson has far too much time available. Fortunately, if you are going to waste your time, Kim has chosen the perfect waste of time, Monty Python.

LOOK... A PENGUIN! Sorry.

Johnson has wasted a perfectly good lifetime with this ridiculously nitpicky tome which reduces all things Python to little more than a college thesis. Albeit, one which is fascinating and thoroughly researched to the nith degree. Worthy of a Pulitzer. It's just too good for words. If you're not a Python fan, stop reading and go to a page for the lesser of the species where you belong. Pffft!!!!

Thats the question you might very well ask! I enjoyed the first version of this book. Mr.Johnson does indeed include some great photos and some great information. (I have read his stuff since his days way back when in STARLOG Magazine.). The only complaints I can say I have,are: #1 The over use of the words "he laughed"(Nearly ever quote by a person,is followed by that phrase. Makes them all sound like giggling ninnies).AND #2 The fact that Python,by Mr.Johnson's reckoning,can do no wrong. We surely all enjoy their work,but lets be frank,Python like the Beatles,are capable of producing rubbish,its not all solid gold. The writing at times feels very "fannish" but that is okay,the information is very valid. My only question is,why not just release the NEW Information as a NEW BOOK?? So what if its a small book! The original book "First 200 Years" is still out and about.(Even if this one is on glossier paper.) If you do not have the original book,get this version,NOW!! If you have the original,wait 5 more years for, "First 310 Years" and get twice the book at half the price!

This had been on my "To Read" shelf since 1990 (I know because I was using the sales receipt as a bookmark). A biased, glowing look at the Pythons, it is full of useless but amusing trivia, which is exactly what Python fanatics like myself buy these books for. As a history, it's nowhere near the level of Hill and Weingard's Saturday Night (a look at the making of Saturday Night Live and its myriad cast members), but as histories of the series goes, it's about as good as it gets. There's also a complete vid/bib/discography in the back for those completists out there.

Whether you're new to Python or a seasoned veteran, you can't go wrong with "Howard" Johnson's book. All of the main players, programs, and films are examined fully, and the book is lavishly illustrated with many photos from the author's personal collection. When combined with the same author's "Life Before and After Python", you are as well armed as any Python fan on the planet. Buy it now!!!

Of all my years(1, in fact!)of reading about the British Bad Boys, this is definitely the silver tuna. It has mini biographies of each of the members,the history,listings of all movies,albums and books,and,which is very helpful to me,a guide to every single Flying Circus episode!If you at least have any sense of off-beat humor,you will buy this book! Actual title:The First 20 Years of Monty Python(there is an "X" through the last "0")

Once in a millenium comes along a book so bookish it brings new meaning to the word "book". This is that automobile.

One of the best books on Monty Python I've ever read.{Actually, the only book about Monty Python I've read.} If you like Monty Python, I recommend this book.