Monty Python Encyclopedia [Paperback]

Robert Ross (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1999

Everything you ever wanted to know about the history and stars of the Python comedy team from And Now For Something Completely Different to The Wind in the Willows via dead parrots, twelve monkeys and Basil the Rat.

Major biographies of Chapman, Cleese, Gilliam, Idle, Jones and Palin. All television, stage, publishing, radio and filmic ventures -- as a team and apart. In-depth study of the comic ideals, key Python sketches and entries for other key players, notably Spike Milligan, Neil Innes and George Harrison. Further reading, recordings, videos and societies, plus a whole lot more.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: TV Books (May 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1575000369
• ISBN-13: 978-1575000367
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,195,285 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good but beware, June 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Monty Python Encyclopedia (Paperback)

This person Robert Ross knows television but his book is written in a horridly repetitious style (constant references to "glam girls" and "pure class") and is filled with a distressing amount of errors. He obviously used a spellcheck program instead of a proofreader, so we get the information (in the first paragraph on the first page!) that the show started with the Sousa march and a huge "bear" foot. It does not improve. As far as grammer and punctuation go, I'm not the type of person to hate a book for bad grammer and horrifying punctuation -- but if I were, I would hate this book. Nontheless, even though its flaws are terribly annoying, my interest in Python and post-Python was renewed, so I suppose that it did its job.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not quite what it professes to be, September 22, 1999

By 

F. Behrens "Frank Behrens" (Keene, NH USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Monty Python Encyclopedia (Paperback)

I find this flawed effort nevertheless very enjoyable; but I am of two minds about its not quite beign what it professes to be. An encyclopedia should (as Sgt. Friday used to insist) just give the facts. Almost every sentence here is concerned with Mr. Ross's personal opinion about the facts--opinion, by the way, stated as fact. When he says, for example, that episode 7 of the lst series of MP's Flying Circus is "one of the most unfunny," this can scarcely be accepted as fact (it is the one about the transformation into Scotsmen). The format is also inconsistent. A complete treatment of an Avengers episode is offered because John Cleese makes a brief appearance but another episode in which Carol Cleveland plays a major role is not featured and barely mentioned in her own write up. Also--and this is a Good Thing--Ross includes any film or tv show in which even a single Pythonite has had a hand. So with an eye open for typos and occasional inaccuracies, I will continue to peruse this book but always careful to separate fact from opinion. And all the more so now that the MPFC tapes and DVDs are being made available by A&E!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not My Cup of Dead Parrots., June 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Monty Python Encyclopedia (Paperback)

I'm a big Monty Python fan,and this book leaves a lot to be desired.Whereas I am not as rabidly annoyed as some readers,I am bothered by the lack of accurate information.We consult "Encyclopedias" for facts not guessess. There is a lot missing here. I question how hard it is to mispell names from screen credits.(example: The Missionary - Ishaq Bux is labeled as "Ishay Bex").Information on various Books,CD's and vinyl are missing too. And yes, "Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas" is never mentioned by its correct name!(Ross calls in "Love & Drugs in Las Vegas" and "Down & Out in Las Vegas"). Shoddy work. I would love to praise this book for having good photos,but they have all been printed before! (Except the 3 Autographed to Ross,but then I have Python photos autographed to me too.). For the Python purest I recommend any other book! This one is the pause that regurgitates on the reader!