Life of Michael: Michael Palin - The Illustrated Biography |
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Jeremy Novick
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Pages: 160 (Hardcover)
ISBN: 0747235295
Pub: Headline Book Publishing
Pub date: 2001-09-06
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 278336
Reader Reviews:
Great interview. Great photographs. Grating narrative. (9/9 people found this helpful)
This is a nicely constructed, enjoyable book; but it left me wanting more. Having interviewed Palin, the book quite rightly quotes extensively from him, commenting on all aspects of his work, up to and including his forthcoming Sahara project. Michael's comments are generous, wide-ranging and guardedly revealing; but offer frustratingly few further insights into the man himself. The Dark Side of Michael Palin - the Holy Grail of biographers - is a chapter of the book which extends to one and three-quarter pages. The conclusion: "He doesn't like to lose - even when he's playing conkers". In fairness to Novick, that's probably all he was ever going to get. But what the reader gets, aside from great quotations and photographs, is very little from the author himself. The narrative is sparse and at times jarringly and irritatingly colloquial...But, being a fan of the great Gumbius Maximus, I nevertheless found a lot to enjoy in the book. Michael talks of his relationship with Python members, rejection of the Hollywood highlife, passion for travel, attitudes to the media and his relationship with the BBC, his love of writing and Hemingway's work, and possible directions for his future. This book is all about the interview and the excellent photographs and if you're a fan of Palin, then you'll enjoy the book for these reasons. For more in-depth author commentary, then consider the Jonathan Margolis biography. Michael does reveal that one of his favourite all-time pieces of work is the fish-slapping dance...
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Categories
Amazon.co.uk places this book into the following categories:
Books -> Subjects -> Biography -> General
Books -> Subjects -> Music, Stage & Screen -> Television
Books -> Refinements -> Language (feature_browse-bin) -> English
Books -> Refinements -> Age (feature_two_browse-bin)
Books -> Refinements -> Format (binding_browse-bin) -> Hardcover