Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Crown Archetype (2014), Edition: First U. S. Edition, 400 pages
Description
Biography & Autobiography. Performing Arts. Nonfiction. HTML: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER â?˘ â??John Cleeseâ??s memoir is just about everything one would expect of its authorâ??smart, thoughtful, provocative and above all funny. . . . A picture, if you will, of the artist as a young man.â?ťâ??The Washington Post The legendary writer and performer of Monty Python and Fawlty Towers fame takes readers on a grand tour of his ascent in the entertainment world John Cleeseâ??s huge comedic influence has stretched across generations; his sharp irreverent eye and the unique brand of physical comedy he perfected now seem written into comedyâ??s DNA. In this rollicking memoir, Cleese recalls his humble beginnings in a sleepy English town, his early comedic days at Cambridge University (with future Python partner Graham Chapman), and the founding of the landmark comedy troupe that would propel him to worldwide renown. Cleese was just days away from graduating Cambridge and setting off on a law career when he was visited by two BBC executives, who offered him a job writing comedy for radio. That fateful momentâ??and a near-simultaneous offer to take his university humor revue to Londonâ??s famed West Endâ??propelled him down a different path, cutting his teeth writing for stars like David Frost and Peter Sellers, and eventually joining the five other Pythons to pioneer a new kind of comedy that prized invention, silliness, and absurdity. Along the way, he found his first true love with the actress Connie Booth and transformed himself from a reluctant performer to a world class actor and back again. Twisting and turning through surprising stories and hilarious digressionsâ??with some brief pauses along the way that comprise a fascinating primer on whatâ??s funny and whyâ??this story of a young manâ??s journey to the pinnacle of comedy is a mas… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member Othemts
Pretty much as good as one would expect from an autobiography of a famous comedian and writer. It's funny, and offers some insights into the writing process. For some reason I expected that Cleese was an angry person, so I was surprised that he looks back on his life with amusement more than anger.
Favorite Passages:
Young children have so little life experience that they inevitably assume that what happens around and to them is the norm
Another way of looking at this: real anger can work in real life; it won’t work as comedy. Funny anger is ineffectual anger.
One of our professors described a lecture as “a mystical process by which the notes on the pad of the lecturer pass on to the pad of the student, without passing through the mind of either.” It would certainly have been so much more efficient and absorbing if our lecturers had provided full notes for us, and had then discussed them. There could have been real interaction, question and answer, even argument, instead of dictation. But this never happened, ...
I met very few of the upper classes, but when I did, I realised how different their lives were. They genuinely liked chasing things and shooting them and hooking them out of the water and asphyxiating them. Death seemed the inevitable result of all their entertainments, despite their excellent manners.
I remember reading about the doctrine of American “Exceptionalism” and thinking that what I liked so much about Canadians was that they consider themselves unexceptional. This modest, unthreatening attitude seems to produce a nation that is stable, safe, decent and well respected. It’s just a shame that for seven months of the year it’s so cold that only Canadians would put up with it.
I think there have only been about four occasions in my professional life when I have shown any real initiative: suggesting to Graham Chapman that we should contact the other four Pythons-to-be; arranging to write a sitcom with Connie; proposing to Robin Skynner that we should write a TV series about basic principles in psychology; and initiating and shaping A Fish Called Wanda. The rest of the time I have just accepted the next interesting offer, or continued in a pattern already created.
Cleese’s Two Rules of Writing Comedy. First Rule: Get your panic in early. Fear gives you energy, so make sure you have plenty of time to use that energy. (The same rule applies to exams.) Second Rule: Your thoughts follow your mood. Anxiety produces anxious thoughts; sadness begets sad thoughts; anger, angry thoughts; so aim to be in a relaxed, playful mood when you try to be funny.
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I was also surprised at how much of his career he seemed to stumble into rather than working toward a goal. At least that's how he presents it. After probably a bit too much detail about his childhood and education, things get interesting at he gets involved with the Footlights Revue who put on a performance so successful it ends up being performed in London's West End as Cambridge Circus. The show then goes on tour to New Zealand and then to Broadway. While in New York, Cleese meets Connie Booth, and performs in a Broadway musical, something that seems to surprise him as much as it does the reader. Back in England, Cleese takes on comic writing roles for radio and tv programs such as The Frost Report, increasingly taking on acting roles as well and then getting a program with his own group, At Last the 1948 Show. During this period, he and Graham Chapman cement their relationship as a writing duo. The book ends just short of the debut of Monty Python's Flying Circus. I don't know if this is it, or if Cleese intends a sequel, but like any good performance, it left me wanting more.Favorite Passages:
Young children have so little life experience that they inevitably assume that what happens around and to them is the norm
Another way of looking at this: real anger can work in real life; it won’t work as comedy. Funny anger is ineffectual anger.
One of our professors described a lecture as “a mystical process by which the notes on the pad of the lecturer pass on to the pad of the student, without passing through the mind of either.” It would certainly have been so much more efficient and absorbing if our lecturers had provided full notes for us, and had then discussed them. There could have been real interaction, question and answer, even argument, instead of dictation. But this never happened, ...
I met very few of the upper classes, but when I did, I realised how different their lives were. They genuinely liked chasing things and shooting them and hooking them out of the water and asphyxiating them. Death seemed the inevitable result of all their entertainments, despite their excellent manners.
I remember reading about the doctrine of American “Exceptionalism” and thinking that what I liked so much about Canadians was that they consider themselves unexceptional. This modest, unthreatening attitude seems to produce a nation that is stable, safe, decent and well respected. It’s just a shame that for seven months of the year it’s so cold that only Canadians would put up with it.
I think there have only been about four occasions in my professional life when I have shown any real initiative: suggesting to Graham Chapman that we should contact the other four Pythons-to-be; arranging to write a sitcom with Connie; proposing to Robin Skynner that we should write a TV series about basic principles in psychology; and initiating and shaping A Fish Called Wanda. The rest of the time I have just accepted the next interesting offer, or continued in a pattern already created.
Cleese’s Two Rules of Writing Comedy. First Rule: Get your panic in early. Fear gives you energy, so make sure you have plenty of time to use that energy. (The same rule applies to exams.) Second Rule: Your thoughts follow your mood. Anxiety produces anxious thoughts; sadness begets sad thoughts; anger, angry thoughts; so aim to be in a relaxed, playful mood when you try to be funny.
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LibraryThing member Kaethe
[I've gotten behind in my reviews, and I was having a hard time convincing myself to write the next one in order, so screw that, I just moved on to the one I wanted to write about at the moment, and I may or may not ever succeed at filling in the gaps. But because I'm so behind, and taking a leave
This is exactly the sort of book I want to read by any sort of famous person. Many a biography/memoir by many an admired person has lead to disappointment, betrayal, and heartbreak. I had to quit reading Elvis Costello's book not because it jumped around, nor because it had too much about playing and recording music, nor even because I had to look him up on Wiki to get the basics facts of his life in my mind. No, what I couldn't bear was learning that he has a scene in mind, or a mood, and he comes up with a line or two, and then he hangs on to those lines until he finds an appropriate place to use them. It's all very good for Oscar Wilde to write and rewrite his best quips, they are jokes, they don't have to have continuity. But song lyrics? I loved Costello's lyrics, although I have always found it hard to remember more than two lines together. Now I know why. Sigh. I still love Costello, but I knew that I really didn't want to read any more of his book, because I could only bear so much of that sort of revelation.
No, what I want from a famous person's book is a series of amusing or fascinating anecdotes, demonstrating both the delights and the peculiar pains of their work. Really, I want to sit in my living room, just me, and Graham Norton, and John Cleese, and I want this very amusing man to be lead into telling me all his most amusing stories. And I want to see pictures of his cats.
This particular book ends quite early in Cleese's life, before Monty Python, although he does explain how that comes to be. This is school, mostly, and how he came to be studying law, and what it was like for him to be a teacher at the school he had attended only a few years earlier. That sort of thing. How supportive his father always was, how odd and difficult his mother could be. Really, about as much as I want to know about a stranger: what he cares about, what gives him joy, what he likes to do with his friends, some of what he's learned over the years about writing comedy. Lemurs. You know, casual small talk sort of stuff. With the occasional aside acknowledging some of the widespread prejudices of the times, and how much better life is for at least some people now because we've stopped that.
I've got two more reviews in this vein to come: Gloria Steinem and Illeana Douglas. I'll tell you now, so you can skip the reviews and go straight to the books. They're both exactly this kind of thing: amusing and interesting tales of people doing what they enjoy. Best enjoyed with cocktails and cigarettes, even if one neither drinks nor smokes, it's just the right mood.
Library copy
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from work, I'm going to try to get all caught up, which means I may well be clogging up your feed for which I am sorry.]This is exactly the sort of book I want to read by any sort of famous person. Many a biography/memoir by many an admired person has lead to disappointment, betrayal, and heartbreak. I had to quit reading Elvis Costello's book not because it jumped around, nor because it had too much about playing and recording music, nor even because I had to look him up on Wiki to get the basics facts of his life in my mind. No, what I couldn't bear was learning that he has a scene in mind, or a mood, and he comes up with a line or two, and then he hangs on to those lines until he finds an appropriate place to use them. It's all very good for Oscar Wilde to write and rewrite his best quips, they are jokes, they don't have to have continuity. But song lyrics? I loved Costello's lyrics, although I have always found it hard to remember more than two lines together. Now I know why. Sigh. I still love Costello, but I knew that I really didn't want to read any more of his book, because I could only bear so much of that sort of revelation.
No, what I want from a famous person's book is a series of amusing or fascinating anecdotes, demonstrating both the delights and the peculiar pains of their work. Really, I want to sit in my living room, just me, and Graham Norton, and John Cleese, and I want this very amusing man to be lead into telling me all his most amusing stories. And I want to see pictures of his cats.
This particular book ends quite early in Cleese's life, before Monty Python, although he does explain how that comes to be. This is school, mostly, and how he came to be studying law, and what it was like for him to be a teacher at the school he had attended only a few years earlier. That sort of thing. How supportive his father always was, how odd and difficult his mother could be. Really, about as much as I want to know about a stranger: what he cares about, what gives him joy, what he likes to do with his friends, some of what he's learned over the years about writing comedy. Lemurs. You know, casual small talk sort of stuff. With the occasional aside acknowledging some of the widespread prejudices of the times, and how much better life is for at least some people now because we've stopped that.
I've got two more reviews in this vein to come: Gloria Steinem and Illeana Douglas. I'll tell you now, so you can skip the reviews and go straight to the books. They're both exactly this kind of thing: amusing and interesting tales of people doing what they enjoy. Best enjoyed with cocktails and cigarettes, even if one neither drinks nor smokes, it's just the right mood.
Library copy
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LibraryThing member royreddy
I have adored the work of John Cleese for decades.
I was expecting a rousing autobiography.
but I was disappointed.
it felt like a long dry history of his early years and then almost none of the years we long to learn more about.
'it should all work out all right'
was there an embargo, so that he could
I was expecting a rousing autobiography.
but I was disappointed.
it felt like a long dry history of his early years and then almost none of the years we long to learn more about.
'it should all work out all right'
was there an embargo, so that he could
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not write about Python except in the brief tangential references along the way. Show Less
LibraryThing member figre
Autobiographies are a tricky business. The author has to tread the delicate balance between making a surface job of it or going into too much detail. And every reader brings his or her own expectations to the reading – what they expect from that particular author and what they expect to
In my experience I've seen it go well (Tina Fey) and other times, not so well (Craig Ferguson's, while not bad, just didn't do a whole lot.)
And then imagine if you are a member of Monty Python. What kind of expectations must there be for John Cleese's memoirs?
My expectations were high. Unfortunately, it was much like the Ferguson book – some interesting details, some slightly funny moments, but just too much detail that, while chronicling a life (and actually adding some insight) just wasn't that enjoyable to read.
And the most interesting thing: For all intents and purposes, it stops at the moment Python begins. And then adds a last chapter about how they all got together one last time. Maybe Cleese thought it had all been said before; maybe he felt no need to chronicle it. However, I am not sure how you tell the John Cleese story and leave out such a pivotal part of comedy history.
There are nice things in the book. His descriptions of the way comedy was developing in London prior to Pythons – the comedy acts that were shaping the approach to comedy, his work with David Frost – is interesting. Also interesting is how he developed from a writer of comedy to a performer (including a Broadway stint.) But there is just too much information that must be waded through to get to the interesting parts. True, I don't know how you can write an autobiography without spending time on childhood, so I don't fault Cleese for doing so. But his approach is just not particularly (no better word works) entertaining. There is definite insight into how he became the person/entertainer/comedian he did, but the reader has to work through too much to get there.
And here is the worst thing – the book is not particularly funny. Now, if it had been entertaining (there is a difference), this could be forgiven. But, again, the expectations are high when a Python is involved, and they just weren't met. I did laugh a few times – but way too few.
This is not a bad book, but neither is it as good as might be expected.
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learn/hear about. For comedians, this must be an even trickier affair. Do they just do a funny book that doesn't tell much? Do they keep from being too funny in an attempt to tell a more traditional story? How much revelatory detail do they provide regarding the good and bad things that made them the comedian they are? And how much do they tell about the things most people already know – is the book to be about new ground or the rehashing of the tried and true?In my experience I've seen it go well (Tina Fey) and other times, not so well (Craig Ferguson's, while not bad, just didn't do a whole lot.)
And then imagine if you are a member of Monty Python. What kind of expectations must there be for John Cleese's memoirs?
My expectations were high. Unfortunately, it was much like the Ferguson book – some interesting details, some slightly funny moments, but just too much detail that, while chronicling a life (and actually adding some insight) just wasn't that enjoyable to read.
And the most interesting thing: For all intents and purposes, it stops at the moment Python begins. And then adds a last chapter about how they all got together one last time. Maybe Cleese thought it had all been said before; maybe he felt no need to chronicle it. However, I am not sure how you tell the John Cleese story and leave out such a pivotal part of comedy history.
There are nice things in the book. His descriptions of the way comedy was developing in London prior to Pythons – the comedy acts that were shaping the approach to comedy, his work with David Frost – is interesting. Also interesting is how he developed from a writer of comedy to a performer (including a Broadway stint.) But there is just too much information that must be waded through to get to the interesting parts. True, I don't know how you can write an autobiography without spending time on childhood, so I don't fault Cleese for doing so. But his approach is just not particularly (no better word works) entertaining. There is definite insight into how he became the person/entertainer/comedian he did, but the reader has to work through too much to get there.
And here is the worst thing – the book is not particularly funny. Now, if it had been entertaining (there is a difference), this could be forgiven. But, again, the expectations are high when a Python is involved, and they just weren't met. I did laugh a few times – but way too few.
This is not a bad book, but neither is it as good as might be expected.
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LibraryThing member DavidWineberg
Cleese in Wonderland
“I did not know where my life was taking me and looking back, I seemed to be quite unconcerned about it.” This sums up the life of John Cleese, who drifts from peak to peak without any countervailing troughs. He had no plan, was not driven, but was enormously lucky. There
Even with Monty Python. The guys wangled a meeting with the BBC head of comedy, through someone else’s contacts. They came without a presentation, without a name, without a plan, without stars, without samples, without any ideas to pitch at all. And he told them to go ahead and make 13 programs.
Cleese had no training to teach, none to act, none to write. He didn’t learn how to ride a bike until his late 20s and to drive until his 30s. Everything just came his way, from theater to radio to tv to film, where David Frost asked him to write him a feature film without any experience in script construction beyond the two minute sketch. Let alone film production.
The closest he ever came to grief was his neurotic mother, and also nervousness before he tried anything new. Hardly unique. And both of those can be attributed to growing up British, where avoiding embarrassment is the most important thing in life, followed by not discussing anything personal. His British upbringing has him describing his entire life as walking on eggshells. His mother issues can be seen from this succinct description: “When mother was not actually angry it was only because she was not angry YET.” Also, in New York, he once found himself unemployed over a weekend. But he got over it.
For someone “with a distinctly average memory”, John Cleese remembers a staggering amount from his childhood and school days, the focus of the book. At age 74 he remembers everyone’s name and all kinds of details about them. Perhaps this is because he has been in therapy since the age of 31 and has likely had to dredge it all up repeatedly for various therapists again and again, keeping it fresh in his mind.
Monty Python fans will learn the real life origins of many sketches: how the vicious rabbit of The Holy Grail came to be; the Black Knight; the introduction to sex education in The Meaning of Life; the graffiti scene in Life of Brian. He also gives us the essence of Basil Fawlty; it is fear of failure, pure and simple.
There is very little on A Fish Called Wanda, or Clockwise, and not nearly enough on Monty Python. And not a word on his second and third wives or children. But overall, So Anyway does what a biography should do: reveal the essence that made the man, warts (and Luck) and all. And of course, it is immensely entertaining in the process.
David Wineberg
“I did not know where my life was taking me and looking back, I seemed to be quite unconcerned about it.” This sums up the life of John Cleese, who drifts from peak to peak without any countervailing troughs. He had no plan, was not driven, but was enormously lucky. There
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are no hospitalizations, no alcoholism, drug addiction, arrests, war wounds, bankruptcies, firings, swindles, desperate povert or even school suspensions. He got his first real job while a teenager, teaching at his old school until Cambridge could take him in two years. At Cambridge he switched to criminal law two weeks before finals. The master agreed to take him, and gave him a small book with all the answers, which Cleese duly crammed. He passed with ease. A legal job already awaited in London, but BBC producers swept him off his feet with an offer at almost triple the pay, straight out of law school, writing comedy. Just as he started at the beeb, his college play got taken on tour to New Zealand (where he loses his virginity), and then on to Off Broadway. In New York, he was all but drafted into the Broadway hit Half A Sixpence. It just never stops.Even with Monty Python. The guys wangled a meeting with the BBC head of comedy, through someone else’s contacts. They came without a presentation, without a name, without a plan, without stars, without samples, without any ideas to pitch at all. And he told them to go ahead and make 13 programs.
Cleese had no training to teach, none to act, none to write. He didn’t learn how to ride a bike until his late 20s and to drive until his 30s. Everything just came his way, from theater to radio to tv to film, where David Frost asked him to write him a feature film without any experience in script construction beyond the two minute sketch. Let alone film production.
The closest he ever came to grief was his neurotic mother, and also nervousness before he tried anything new. Hardly unique. And both of those can be attributed to growing up British, where avoiding embarrassment is the most important thing in life, followed by not discussing anything personal. His British upbringing has him describing his entire life as walking on eggshells. His mother issues can be seen from this succinct description: “When mother was not actually angry it was only because she was not angry YET.” Also, in New York, he once found himself unemployed over a weekend. But he got over it.
For someone “with a distinctly average memory”, John Cleese remembers a staggering amount from his childhood and school days, the focus of the book. At age 74 he remembers everyone’s name and all kinds of details about them. Perhaps this is because he has been in therapy since the age of 31 and has likely had to dredge it all up repeatedly for various therapists again and again, keeping it fresh in his mind.
Monty Python fans will learn the real life origins of many sketches: how the vicious rabbit of The Holy Grail came to be; the Black Knight; the introduction to sex education in The Meaning of Life; the graffiti scene in Life of Brian. He also gives us the essence of Basil Fawlty; it is fear of failure, pure and simple.
There is very little on A Fish Called Wanda, or Clockwise, and not nearly enough on Monty Python. And not a word on his second and third wives or children. But overall, So Anyway does what a biography should do: reveal the essence that made the man, warts (and Luck) and all. And of course, it is immensely entertaining in the process.
David Wineberg
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LibraryThing member Meggo
I have to confess to being a little disappointed with this book, which is very prettily written whilst saying little. That it is well written should come as no surprise given that Cleese is and has been for decades a very accomplished writer. But the fact that he chooses to reveal so little about
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himself and his motivations left me somewhat cold. Add to this the virtual skipping over of the Python years, and this was a bit of a disappointment. I don't feel that I have gained any insights at all into the man from reading his book. Certainly not the worst book I have read this year, but I can't help but feel that Cleese could have done so much better. Show Less
LibraryThing member bookczuk
Though I am a John Cleese fan, I rarely watched Monty Python when it originally aired. (It was on at a bad time for me, as I recall.) Nonetheless, certain bits and bobs did make their way into my world, enough so that I occasionally find myself singing the lumberjack song, or chuckling about dead
Having introduced our grandkids to Dr Who and Firefly, I think it's time to add British comedy to the mix, starting with some John Cleese projects.
Thank you to Blogging for Books and to the publisher for sending a copy of this book my way.
Tags:
biography-autobiography-or-memoir, blogging-for-books, funny, heard-interview-with-author, i-liked-the-pictures, made-me-laugh-out-loud-for-real, made-me-look-something-up, read-in-2015, read-for-review
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parrots. I was introduced to Fawlty Towers when it originally aired, and adored it-- so much so that we have the complete set (on VHS no less, and introduced our kids to it at a tender age.) What I liked about this book was some of the fill-in-the-gaps about John Cleese that occurred before, during, and around these productions (and A Fish Called Wanda). The beginning chapters about Cleese's boyhood and school days were particularly interesting to me. And while the latter part of the memoir has drawn criticism for running through various shows and projects, popping in bits of scripts here and there, I found it interesting, as I didn't know a lot of the British shows pre-Python, though the actors and personalities are known from other projects (David Frost, Peter Sellers, Marty Feldman etc.) Yes, there were times when I was less engaged than others, but there were enough delightful nuggets of information, and moments where Mr Cleese's ability as a writer of comedy caused me to laugh out loud, that I have come away happy. I hadn't realized how tightly kniy that group of writers and performers were or how far back they knew each other. Having introduced our grandkids to Dr Who and Firefly, I think it's time to add British comedy to the mix, starting with some John Cleese projects.
Thank you to Blogging for Books and to the publisher for sending a copy of this book my way.
Tags:
biography-autobiography-or-memoir, blogging-for-books, funny, heard-interview-with-author, i-liked-the-pictures, made-me-laugh-out-loud-for-real, made-me-look-something-up, read-in-2015, read-for-review
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LibraryThing member Bodagirl
Slightly disappointed that he stopped at the very beginning of the Python years, and when I say beginning, I mean shooting the first sketch and nothing else, but otherwise an interesting look at the start of one of the great comedic writer/actors in the world. He focused a lot on his writing
Book Riot "Read Harder" Challenge 2015 | Task 2: Author over 65
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process, which is very different tham other celebrity memoirs. I also found that imagining Cleese's voice while reading made it much more enjoyable. Book Riot "Read Harder" Challenge 2015 | Task 2: Author over 65
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LibraryThing member TheCrow2
The autobiography of John Cleese from his childhood memories to the beginning of Monty Python. An interesting insight into the life of a man who started learning law but soon realising that the stage and writing is his life. I hope there will be a second book about the Python years.
LibraryThing member Navarre1963
Several reviewers have complained because this book ends right as Monty Python is starting, but I found the book delightful. I'm always more interested in the why and how than the finished product,
so learning about Cleese's up-bringing and his various comedy projects before Python was of
interest to me. The book isn't laugh out loud funny, more amusing and wry.
so learning about Cleese's up-bringing and his various comedy projects before Python was of
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greatinterest to me. The book isn't laugh out loud funny, more amusing and wry.
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LibraryThing member Keith.G.Richie
I have watched John Cleese be funny for most of my life. I discovered Monty Python as a teenager in the '70s, when PBS was running episodes for US audiences. I fell in love with the show, and with their movies (Holy Grail, The Meaning of Life, and Life of Brian are among the funniest films
From the first pages of Cleese's autobiography, I was in. No one else could have written this book - it's so clearly and deeply in Cleese's voice from beginning to end. Cleese almost always makes me laugh, and I did so here right to the last chapter.
Cleese has gotten some rough press in recent years - the fights with his old Python fellows are not pretty, and his political and personal views sometimes create unfortunate headlines. But this book is not that. It's the Cleese I grew up laughing at and with. I hope he plans to write more.
Unless you are employed by The Daily Mail, I suspect you will love this book.
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ever).From the first pages of Cleese's autobiography, I was in. No one else could have written this book - it's so clearly and deeply in Cleese's voice from beginning to end. Cleese almost always makes me laugh, and I did so here right to the last chapter.
Cleese has gotten some rough press in recent years - the fights with his old Python fellows are not pretty, and his political and personal views sometimes create unfortunate headlines. But this book is not that. It's the Cleese I grew up laughing at and with. I hope he plans to write more.
Unless you are employed by The Daily Mail, I suspect you will love this book.
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LibraryThing member Sheillaz
Great writing but short on stories around the making of Monty Python or faulty towers. Cleese is a brilliant man with a bit of nievity. Worth a read.
LibraryThing member nemoman
This book was not what I expected it to be. Like most people I was drawn to Cleese in his seminal work with Monty Python, the Python movies, Fawlty Towers and A Fish Called Wanda. The book, however, ends in 1969 withe formation of Monty Python. Thus you learn nothing of the other Python members -
The book in any event is well written and has regular flashes of humor. I learned some new information: he wrote for Frost's That Was The Week That Was, and with Marty Feldman and Graham Chapman had a British comedy television program titled At Last That 1948 Show. You can watch the series on youtube, and you can clearly see the beginnings of Monty Python and later Laugh In.
I do not regret reading the book, but I bought expecting to learn about Cleesse' mature work. Without Python and the work that followed, Cleese would long have been forgotten as a run of the mill comedic scriptwriter - certainly not someone whose biography would attract your attention.
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other than Chapman. At most you get some prehistory, for example the origin of the dead parrot sketch, and the fact that the hotel in Fawlty Towers was based on one in which his family regularly vacationed.The book in any event is well written and has regular flashes of humor. I learned some new information: he wrote for Frost's That Was The Week That Was, and with Marty Feldman and Graham Chapman had a British comedy television program titled At Last That 1948 Show. You can watch the series on youtube, and you can clearly see the beginnings of Monty Python and later Laugh In.
I do not regret reading the book, but I bought expecting to learn about Cleesse' mature work. Without Python and the work that followed, Cleese would long have been forgotten as a run of the mill comedic scriptwriter - certainly not someone whose biography would attract your attention.
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LibraryThing member ChrisRiesbeck
If you've seen Cleese interviewed anywhere in the last 5 years, you'll know the tone of this book. Digressions galore on books he's read, especially pop psychology, and a Cleese-ian humorous turn of phrase, every few paragraphs, as he tells the tale of his life from childhood, as best he can
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remember it, to the beginning of Python. Part 2 from that point on clearly waits in the wings, but this remains engaging even during the slow bits, e.g., when he was a teacher who returned like Mr Kotter to the old neighborhood. Show Less
LibraryThing member Flip_Martian
Interesting and amusing. Well written, obviously - he's an intelligent fella. Lots I didn't know - about his schooldays and early life, and that he went into teaching at his old private school, the period before Python took off and so on. No muckraking so anyone looking for the dirt on his ex wives
Easy to read and engaging; looking forward to the 2nd volume, whenever that appears.
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will be disappointed! But he writes interestingly about his work and in particular the amount of work that goes into the film scripts he has done - and how hard they are to get right (which is why quite a few didn't do very well). The main detail is up to the Python period. No doubt another book is to follow - although the book isn't afraid to jump forwards when its relevant, its mainly about his early life. It does close just after the Python reunion shows at the O2 and the conclusion that performing is no longer what gets him excited, and that they were pleased to do it but have no regrets at saying "that's it".Easy to read and engaging; looking forward to the 2nd volume, whenever that appears.
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LibraryThing member hhornblower
I an entertaining read, but it reads like he was dictating the whole thing, lots of asides and long tangents. I can just picture him sitting in a nice comfy chair with a cocktail just rambling while a stenographer was typing away. That being said, if you're a fan of anything John Cleese related,
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you will enjoy this book. Show Less
LibraryThing member Pepperwings
An interesting look at the lesser-known parts of John Cleese's life--quite entertaining. I liked learning more about the beginnings of Monty Python, and how things came together.
LibraryThing member electrascaife
Cleese's account of his life from childhood through the beginnings of his Monty Python fame.
I started out liking this one quite a bit, but the middle dragged some and I deeply suspect that his self-deprecating comments are actually pompous self-importance in humble clothing. So, yeah, a little
I started out liking this one quite a bit, but the middle dragged some and I deeply suspect that his self-deprecating comments are actually pompous self-importance in humble clothing. So, yeah, a little
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disappointing. Show Less
LibraryThing member Equestrienne
Okay, so this book wasn't really five stars, but I adore John Cleese to the point where he gets an automatic five star review from me. (Hey, people do the same thing with unreadable books written by multi-untalented authors, so don't bitch to me about Goodreads "standards")
There's something so
There's something so
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refreshing in reading about the life of someone so intelligent, funny, and, at heart, a true gentleman of the old school. Aside from his wit, the man is also a genius of physical comedy, he can make me laugh without saying a word. I certainly hope he is enjoying his self-imposed exile in tropical paradise and continuing to have a fabulous life. Show Less
LibraryThing member Tytania
John Cleese's memoir of his life up to the moment Python started recording its first show.
It's a pretty low-key life, as I was expecting. But the Cleesean humor is consistently there. (Fun fact - surname "Cleese" was originally "Cheese." So in a parallel universe, we are calling it "Cheesey"
Cleese grew up an only child in the southwest of England and had a loving father and difficult mother. He went to law school at Cambridge, and graduated, with an offer to work at a law firm; but somehow comedy pulled him away. It's funny to think Cleese was a bona fide lawyer and Graham Chapman an actual doctor, as one watches them act out their ludicrous skits.
The happiest segment of Cleese's life feels to me like the two years he taught various subjects to 10-year-olds at his alma mater, while waiting for his place at Cambridge to open up. His love for the place is evident... as is the other love that shines through even more, that for his writing partner and brilliant, wonderful, wonderfully "complex" and difficult lifelong friend, Graham Chapman, RIP.
The book came out in 2014 and ends with a (forgotten, by me anyway) Python reunion. Terry Jones was still alive. Cleese gets in some surprisingly sharp yet not-quite-cruel digs at Jones only at the end; and, throughout, makes very cutting remarks about Terry Gilliam - I had not heard of any ill will between the two of them, but by the end I was feeling like it was all a big joke.
The Pythons were amazing. Cleese later won acclaim for FAWLTY TOWERS and FISH CALLED WANDA, but apart from at most two or three episodes of TOWERS, none of this later work lives up to his collaborative Pythonian work. He and Chapman lent the logic that balanced the ludicrosity offered up by the other Pythons. Like the Beatles, they were more than the sum of their parts; and every part was indispensible, perhaps Cleese more than any other. Just try to watch the final season after he'd left the show. It's like trying to listen to a Ringo Starr album.
It's a pretty low-key life, as I was expecting. But the Cleesean humor is consistently there. (Fun fact - surname "Cleese" was originally "Cheese." So in a parallel universe, we are calling it "Cheesey"
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humor.)Cleese grew up an only child in the southwest of England and had a loving father and difficult mother. He went to law school at Cambridge, and graduated, with an offer to work at a law firm; but somehow comedy pulled him away. It's funny to think Cleese was a bona fide lawyer and Graham Chapman an actual doctor, as one watches them act out their ludicrous skits.
The happiest segment of Cleese's life feels to me like the two years he taught various subjects to 10-year-olds at his alma mater, while waiting for his place at Cambridge to open up. His love for the place is evident... as is the other love that shines through even more, that for his writing partner and brilliant, wonderful, wonderfully "complex" and difficult lifelong friend, Graham Chapman, RIP.
The book came out in 2014 and ends with a (forgotten, by me anyway) Python reunion. Terry Jones was still alive. Cleese gets in some surprisingly sharp yet not-quite-cruel digs at Jones only at the end; and, throughout, makes very cutting remarks about Terry Gilliam - I had not heard of any ill will between the two of them, but by the end I was feeling like it was all a big joke.
The Pythons were amazing. Cleese later won acclaim for FAWLTY TOWERS and FISH CALLED WANDA, but apart from at most two or three episodes of TOWERS, none of this later work lives up to his collaborative Pythonian work. He and Chapman lent the logic that balanced the ludicrosity offered up by the other Pythons. Like the Beatles, they were more than the sum of their parts; and every part was indispensible, perhaps Cleese more than any other. Just try to watch the final season after he'd left the show. It's like trying to listen to a Ringo Starr album.
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LibraryThing member Martha_Thayer
Entertaining. Don't bother reading if you want to know about his marriages, as it's pretty much only about his work.
LibraryThing member TulsaTV
It's easy to hear John Cleese's voice while reading this.
Comedy is hard work.
Comedy is hard work.
LibraryThing member zot79
John Cleese makes me laugh. His autobiography does a pretty good job of helping me understand how he got that way: mainly through dogged persistence, rather than innate talent. Like many performers, he grew up poor. Though socially inept and physically clumsy, he found a way to become successful in
The story is in the details and John does a fair job of giving us the details in an entertaining fashion. Fans of Monty Python will certainly be intrigued by the many pre-Python anecdotes and John's asides on the philosophy of life, work and comedy. Be forewarned, though, this book ends just as Monty Python is getting started (although there is a sort of bonus chapter with some Python reminiscing, due to the proximity of the "Monty Python (Mostly) Live" reunion close to the book's publishing date).
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school (including some sports), eventually earning his way into Cambridge. That's where he stumbled into comedy writing and performing and linked up with folks like Graham Chapman, Eric Idle and (THE) David Frost. This led to jobs in radio and television and even the stage and eventually to Monty Python (and beyond).The story is in the details and John does a fair job of giving us the details in an entertaining fashion. Fans of Monty Python will certainly be intrigued by the many pre-Python anecdotes and John's asides on the philosophy of life, work and comedy. Be forewarned, though, this book ends just as Monty Python is getting started (although there is a sort of bonus chapter with some Python reminiscing, due to the proximity of the "Monty Python (Mostly) Live" reunion close to the book's publishing date).
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Awards
British Book Award (Shortlist — 2014)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2014-01-01
Physical description
400 p.; 9.44 inches
ISBN
038534824X / 9780385348249
Local notes
Signed