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Halfway To Hollywood

Diaries 1980-1988 (Volume Two)

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Halfway To Hollywood

By: Michael Palin
Narrated by: Michael Palin
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About this listen

 Michael Palin's bestselling diaries of the 1980s.

After a live performance at the Hollywood Bowl, The Pythons made their last performance together in 1983 in the hugely successful MONTY PYTHON'S MEANING OF LIFE. Writing and acting in films and television then took over much of Michael's life, culminating in the smash hit A FISH CALLED WANDA (for which he won a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor), and the first of his seven celebrated television journeys for the BBC. He co-produced, wrote and played the lead in THE MISSIONARY opposite Maggie Smith, who also appeared with him in A PRIVATE FUNCTION, written by Alan Bennett.

Such was his fame in the US, he was enticed into once again hosting the enormously popular show Saturday Night Live, in one edition of which his mother makes a highly successful surprise guest appearance. He filmed several journeys for television and became chairman of the pressure group, Transport 2000. His family remains a constant as his and Helen's children enter their teens.©2009 Michael Palin Diaries & Journals Entertainment & Performing Arts Film & TV Memoirs, Diaries & Correspondence Entertainment Comedy Celebrity Funny

Critic reviews

Palin reminds me of Samuel Johnson: driven, intellectually formidable, and spurred on by self-reproach and the wholly irrational idea that he's not really getting on with it . . . Palin is a seriously good writer. These diaries are full of fine phrases and sharp little sketches of scenes
This is a brisk, pithy, amusing read, teeming with the writer's inner life, crammed with high-quality observations . . . and deft ink-pen sketches of his associates
Charming and vastly entertaining
His entries are riddled with the astute wit and generosity of spirit that characterise both his performances and his previously published writing
It's clear why Cleese later nominated Palin as his luxury item on Desert Island Discs . . . he makes such unfailingly good company . . . this is the agreeably written story of how a former Python laid the foundation stone by which he would reinvent himself as a public institution: the People's Palin
A fascinating and wry cultural take on the 1980s . . . it's also, when added to volume one, proving to be the most beguiling and revealing of ongoing autobiographies
This is the Michael Palin with whom the public has fallen in love. A man whose ordinary likeability makes us feel we know him, and that he is incapable of nastiness or an outburst of bad temper
There are some fabulous and very funny snippets about Alan Bennett and Maggie Smith . . . the behind-the-scenes antics of the Pythons and their wider circle make great reading
All stars
Most relevant
Working my way through all the diaries. They don’t disappoint. Michael Palin writes beautifully and narrates perfectly.

A great listen

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When Michael tells us Angela has “done it” I was in tears, respect to you Michael.

As ever a great listen

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Not sure which is the most prevalent?
If you like Mr Palin and have grown up loving his work then this is a great story with many great characters and events running through it. Really interesting to have an insight into the work that goes in to making us laugh and some very moving and painful family stories as he moves through his life. I ran miles listening to this.

Champagne and Concorde and Cheese..

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Palin is just joyful. Such a great listen about the man, the time and life

National treasure

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Palin would probably detest the tag ‘national treasure’ - or at least he would have, when he and the other Pythons were young comedic upstarts. Now he’s a knight of the realm, and an elder statesman of British showbiz. Despite the mockery of his colleagues, he kept a detailed diary throughout his long and fascinating career, which proved a shrewd move. In this volume, Palin appears in some big movies, including dystopian satire Brazil, directed by fellow Python Terry Gilliam. Palin also describes his acting work on Alan Bennett’s A Private Function, and A Fish Called Wanda, in which Palin starred alongside another Python, John Cleese. Palin narrates in a casual, conversational style. For fans, it’s catnip. Indeed, it’s compelling even for those who aren’t natural Python aficionados, as it’s a great window on the film industry, on both sides of the Atlantic, in the 1980s. Former Beatle George Harrison has more than a few cameos, in his movie producer phase. These diaries are brilliant and Palin has been a wonderful companion on countless walks, during which I’ve listened to his ruminations. I admire his work ethic most of all, and the sense that not much will grind him down - he just keeps going, and producing work that is always interesting, or different, and usually both. A lot of the time, it’s also timeless and classic. Can’t wait to listen to the next volume…

Diary of a national treasure

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