A LIAR'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY

by Graham Chapman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 27, 1981

Interminable parodies, in-jokes, and self-indulgence--as one of the Monty python players writes a pseudo-autobiography. The tedium starts off with unfunny mock-prefaces by Princess Anne and her husband and goes downhill from there--through a Proust parody, Pythonesque digressions (to the 1890s and Oscar Wilde), fatuous footnotes, flashbacks and flash-forwards, stultifying academic humor (more freshman than sophomoric), Oxford and medical-school experiences, showbiz/cabaret beginnings (more straightforwardly described than anything else), traumas as a writer for David Frost, coming-out-of-the-closet as a homosexual, work with the Gay Liberation Front, the Monty Python successes, etc., etc. Perhaps the most hardcore Python addicts will be interested in sorting out the factual Python work-history (lots about superb John Cleese) from the labored whimsies, gay-liberation polemics, and sheer petty detail here. And avid followers of the British rock-scene will find familiar names dropped right and left. All others, however, will be bored, annoyed, or thoroughly put off--and it would be a pity if readers unfamiliar with the genuine inspiration of Monty Python at its best got the wrong idea from this turgid spinoff.

Pub Date: Feb. 27, 1981

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Methuen

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1981

Categories: NONFICTION