THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

'Funny, wicked, naughty, eye-popping and compulsively, joyously brilliant'
STEPHEN FRY

From the ingenious comic performer, founding member of Monty Python, and creator of Spamalot, comes an absurdly funny memoir of unparalleled wit and heartfelt candour.

Best known for his unforgettable roles in Monty Python, from the Flying Circus to The Meaning of Life, Eric Idle reflects on the meaning of his own life in this brilliantly entertaining memoir that takes us on an unforgettable journey from his childhood in an austere boarding school through his successful career in comedy, television, theatre and film.

2019 marks the 50th anniversary of The Pythons, and this laugh-out-loud memoir is the perfect celebration, chock-full of behind-the-scenes stories from a high-flying life that features everyone from Princess Leia to the Queen. With anecdotes sprinkled throughout that involve close friends and luminaries such as Mick Jagger, George Harrison, Steve Martin, Paul Simon and David Bowie - let alone the Pythons themselves - Eric captures a time of tremendous creative output with equal hilarity and heart.

Named after the song he wrote for Life of Brian that has since become the number-one song played at funerals in the UK, Always Look on the Bright Side of Life reflects on the highlights of his life and career with the off-beat humour that has delighted audiences for decades.

"The Monty Python man embraced fame and became friends with George Harrison, David Bowie, Paul Simon and many others. This is an unashamedly starry autobiography, packed with hilarious name-dropping anecdotes" - Mail on Sunday Books of the Year

"The pleasingly jolly tone of what he calls his "sortabiography" captures the daft glee with which the he and his fellow Pythons lampooned British authority" - Guardian Best Books of 2018

"A thoroughly pleasurable read ... [It captures] the infectious glee with which the Monty Python troupe went about subverting the British establishment" - Observer

"Charming ... A treasure trove of comedy insights" - Rolling Stone

"Inevitably, Eric Idle's memoir, Always Look on the Bright Side of Life, is no ordinary celebrity autobiography ... [Showbiz anecdotes] are combined with frank, fresh insights into five decades as part of Monty Python" - Radio Times

"Idle is engaging company" - Sunday Times

"When you have a tour guide as engaging as Eric Idle, you'll gladly go wherever he takes you. The writer and comedian best known as a member of the British sketch troupe Monty Python has curated an intimate journey of what it was like to be a writer who suddenly found himself a massively famous actor. . . . It's also the kind of book you'll want to read twice-once when the genius of Python sketches are fresh in your memory, and once when those scenes have faded so you can be reminded how these comedy rebels shook up an art form that was due for a dose of surreal silliness" - Washington Post

"Ideal for Python lovers" - i Best book gifts to buy this Chrismas

"A remarkable and very entertaining memoir" - The People's Friend