Monty Python Live! edited by Eric Idle (Simon & Schuster, RRP $45):
It’s been 30 years since we were lucky enough to have a new Monty Python book by all the surviving Python crew so this one is is well worth having for the discerning Python fan.
The book covers the live stage show that toured in the 1970s and 80s, including the Hollywood Bowl show.
There are oral histories and essays from the members of this infamous and possibly insane troupe, reprinted scripts from some of the classics (such as the dead parrot sketch) and stacks of photos, Terry Jones’ reminiscing on an almost blank page titled what I remember and the official programme from the Hollywood Bowl show.
Some of the content will be familiar to fans but there are plenty of new stories and photos to make it good value for money.
It’s worth reading just for Eric Idle’s foreword (in this case labelled foreplay) alone: “I was surprised and a little aroused recently to witness an evening of Monty Python performed entirely by women. All of whom had finer breasts than us.”