A publicity biography of Michael Palin, written by John Cleese, is included in the introduction for (Diaries 1969-1979: The Python Years):

“Michael Palin is not just one of Britain’s foremost comedy character actors…he also talks a lot.

Michael chats, quips, fantasises, reminisces, commiserates, encourages, plans, discusses, and elaborates. Then, some nights, when everyone else has gone to bed, he goes home and writes up a diary.”

You can almost hear Cleese’s signature tone of ire in your head as you read that last line. But it sums up this collection of Michael Palin’s diaries from Monty Python’s definitive years perfectly. At 673 pages (not counting the index), this hefty tome takes you deep inside Palin’s head during a period of almost exhaustive creative output, constant travel, financial wranglings, headbutting within the Python camp, and ultimately, great success.

Even if one is not a Monty Python fanatic, the book is a fascinating look at Palin’s struggles for artistic and creative achievement. He bluntly presents the state of affairs for the Pythons as they are in the process of creating what would become (unbeknownst to themselves and certainly the BBC) one of the greatest comedy series of all time. And yet throughout this period of groundbreaking artistic output, the Pythons are fighting with the BBC over censorship of segments and often taking on all sorts of side work to make ends meet. The scenes of Palin lowering himself to do adverts (for a measely £50) are gut wrenching to read, as Palin’s knack for not being able to say no leads him into embarrassing encounters with ad agency reps (even agreeing to ‘audition’ for a Maxwell House commercial).

As for the affairs of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, the book is an endless source of fascination because of the author’s immediate response to events of the day. If this were a memoir, some of the wonderful surprises would be lost forever. Instead, we are given Palin’s reaction to each day undiluted by future hindsight. A good example comes in the 1970 chapter when Palin and the Python’s are filming episodes in Torquay and return to their hotel:

“However, Mr. Sinclair, the proprietor, seemed to view us from the start as a colossal inconvenience, and when we arrived back from Brixham, at 12.30, having watched the night filming, he just stood and looked at us with a look of self-righteous resentment, a tacit accusation that I had not seen since my father waited up for me fifteen years ago.”

That Mr. Sinclair would later become the main influence for Cleese’s superbly funny Basil Fawlty on Fawlty Towers.

In addition, the constant disputes between members — while never mean-spirited or backbiting — is very interesting in the context of the time as you read about the Terrys’ (Jones and Gilliam) squabbles with Cleese, whose motives often seem more self-serving (even if in many cases Cleese is arguing in favor of Python’s integrity).

While exhaustive in its content, the book never feels as if it’s too much, mostly due to Palin’s wit and dry, bare-bones writing style. We follow Palin through the end of the Python television series, into their first films (including Monty Python and the Holy Grail), overseas to America, back and forth several times, and through the creation of Palin’s own Ripping Yarns series. The book ends with the filming and release of the now classic Life of Brian (the Python’s own selection as their best movie) and the ensuing outrage from Christian groups and pro-censorship lunatics. Palin and the Pythons, finally achieving financial security and great artistic success, suddenly find themselves at the center of controversy and yet on the side of right. The troupe rallies together in favor of the cause and in the end come out a stronger unit than the previous years.

Ultimately, Diaries 1969-1979: The Python Years perfectly captures what it was truly like for Palin (and in turn the rest of Python) in those key years when they took comedy into completely uncharted realms. In some ways, it is better than the Almost the Truth documentary or Autobiography of the Pythons in that there is no cleaning up of the story. It is Palin’s opinion as unflinching and dead center as it was during those quiet late-night or early-morning hours when he was trying to make sense of it all by jotting down a few notes about his journey.