Cleese Encounters

Rating:
Summary: A must for Python/Fawlty fans,get inside the real Cleese
Review: John Cleese is arguably the greatest comedian of the 60's to 90's. Best known as a founder of "Monty Python" & "Fawlty Towers",this biography makes fascinating reading and provides many insights into his comic genius. A must for Cleese fans and/or lovers of British comedy.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding!
Review: Packed with brilliantly researched information, beautifully written, deeply insightful, modest and very British, just like its subject. To be fair, there haven't been many negative reviews of this excellent book, but the few I have seen have, I suspect, come from the more earnest kind of Americans who believe they understand Monty Python, but never have and sadly never will. Only too bad this book is out of print in the USA, but we in Britain can buy the updated paperback on Amazon.co.uk Recommended!

Rating:
Summary: Not bad considering there was no help from the subject :-)
Review: This book is in no way the definitive Cleese study, but it does give good background and some insight into Cleese and the characters he developed onscreen. Sometimes those on the periphery of the subject can give good insight because they are, for the most part, unbiased. Pick it up if you have the chance, and see if you can find the characters of Cleese's childhood in his comedy.

Rating:
Summary: The Worst Book on Pythoniana Ever. Period.
Review: This is the lousiest book you will ever read about John Cleese or any of the Pythons, period.

I tried to give it zero stars, but the system wouldn't let me.

I understand that when Margolis announced he was doing a Cleese bio, Cleese asked his friends not to help Margolis in any way.

It shows. Margolis replaces insight and nuance with trivia and stupid research tricks. He digs up ancient, brief acquaintances of Cleese's and interviews them (like the girl who was an on-site nurse at one of his film sets, stuff like that).

But most of the book is cobbled together from newspaper and magazine articles, glued together with gobs of suspect, sometimes lurid speculation on the part of the author about Cleese's inner life and psychological motivations.

Oh, and did I mention that Margolis is a writer as smug as he is untalented?

Being an incurable Python fan, I could not resist buying this as a remaindered softback, despite being warned by Friends Who Knew Better.

I still felt as mightily snookered as I would have had I paid full retail hardback.

Run away! Run away!