Always Look on the Bright Side of Life

Eric Idle

Image | Book Cover: Always Look on the Bright Side of Life by Eric Idle

(Crown Archetype)

We know him best for his unforgettable roles on Monty Python — from the Flying Circus to The Meaning of Life. Now, Eric Idle reflects on the meaning of his own life in this entertaining memoir that takes us on a remarkable journey from his childhood in an austere boarding school through his successful career in comedy, television, theater and film. Coming of age as a writer and comedian during the 1960s and 1970s, Eric stumbled into the crossroads of the cultural revolution and found himself rubbing shoulders with the likes of George Harrison, David Bowie and Robin Williams, all of whom became dear lifelong friends. With anecdotes sprinkled throughout involving other close friends and luminaries such as Mike Nichols, Mick Jagger, Steve Martin, Paul Simon, Lorne Michaels and many more, as well as John Cleese and the Pythons themselves, Eric captures a time of tremendous creative output with equal parts hilarity and heart. In Always Look on the Bright Side of Life, named for the song he wrote for Life of Brian and which has since become the number one song played at funerals in the U.K., he shares the highlights of his life and career with the kind of offbeat humour that has delighted audiences for five decades. (From Crown Archetype)

From the book

Of course I have faults, but you won't read about them here. I've glossed over all my shortcomings. That is after all the point of Autobiography. It is the case for the Defense. But I will own up to not being perfect. I have British teeth. They are like British politics: they go in all directions at once.
Writing about yourself is an odd mix of therapy and lap dancing; exciting and yet a little shameful. So here is my own pathetic addition to the celebrity memoir. On the advice of my lawyer I am leaving out the shameful bits, and on the advice of my wife the filthy bits, but as usual in my career, I will leave you wanting less.
If this isn't exactly what went down, it's certainly how it should have happened.

From Always Look on the Bright Side of Life by Eric Idle ©2018. Published by Crown Archetype.

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