From top: Graham Chapman, John Cleese and friends; Michael Palin and Eric Idle filming The Cycling Tour; Conrad Poohs and His Dancing Teeth
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MONTY PYTHON SPEAKS! THE COMPLETE ORAL HISTORY, REVISED AND UPDATED EDITION
By DAVID MORGAN
With a new foreword by JOHN OLIVER, host of HBO's "Last Week Tonight"
Available January 2019 from Harper Collins
An invaluable history of the most successful comic group in films and television, this collection of thoughtful, insightful and revealing (as well as silly) interviews with the surviving members of Monty Python is a look into that rare collective mind that marked a comic collaboration for the ages - now updated with new interviews for the group's 50th anniversary!
This book covers their coming together, their innovative television and film work, their struggles to maintain artistic control over their work, their 2014 reunion at London's O2 Arena, their friendships, their clashes, their spam!
Featuring interviews with John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin, as well as with Python collaborators and co-conspirators including producer/director Ian MacNaughton, actress Carol Cleveland, Graham Chapman's companion David Sherlock, producer John Goldstone, BBC producer Barry Took, editor Julian Doyle, author Douglas Adams, Tony Award-nominated star of "Spamalot" Hank Azaria, and others. Also includes rare behind-the-scenes photographs (some never before published).
"Well-organized, informative and discreet about such matters as the late Graham Chapman's outre life style, while sufficiently gossipy to tell us that the Apollonian John Cleese was a bullying control freak constantly at odds with the Dionysian Terry Jones, a tantrum-throwing fanatic."
— The New York Times Book Review (7/25/99)
"Talk about your Argument Clinics: The internecine grievances stretches from here to Camelot in this witheringly honest oral history of the brilliant comedy troupe. Grade: A."
— Entertainment Weekly (7/9/99)
"The nearest thing imaginable to a group autobiography. ... It portrays vividly the give-and-take between strong personalities that formed the group dynamic. ... Cheerful and peppy."
— San Francisco Chronicle (8/1/99)
"Essential reading for all fans."
— Sunday Star Times (Auckland) (9/12/99)
"Morgan's book reaches the heart of both the artistic and human sides of Monty Python, and fills a void for all those who will never be able to get enough of the most successful comedy group in film and television."
— Daily Yomiuri (Tokyo) (1/9/2000)
From HarperCollins (U.S./Canada/U.K.):
Trade Paperback
U.S. $17.99 / Canada $19.99 / U.K. £14.99
Approx. 410 pp.
Includes black-and-white photos
ISBN: 978-0-06286644-8
ALSO AVAILABLE IN eBOOK FORMAT
Visit HarperCollins.com for information on the trade paperback edition, and the eBook format. Also available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other outlets.
For foreign language editions of "Monty Python Speaks" contact EAST PRESS (Japan), ARGO (Czech Republic), WIG PRESS (Poland), and GABO (Hungary).
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Composers pictured:
Jerry Goldsmith (cover),
Basil Poledouris,
Carter Burwell,
and Jocelyn Pook
Photos: Matthew Joseph Peak, courtesy of Varese Sarabande; Larsen & Talbert; Todd Kasow; and Reprise Records, courtesy of Ronnie Chasen.
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AVAILABLE FROM HARPER ENTERTAINMENT (U.S./Canada)
KNOWING THE SCORE:
CONVERSATIONS WITH FILM COMPOSERS ABOUT THE ART, CRAFT, BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS OF WRITING MUSIC FOR CINEMA
By DAVID MORGAN
To read excerpts from KNOWING THE SCORE and hear audio clips, click here.
An appreciation
of and inquisitive exploration into the art and craft of film music, as
told in the words of some of the form's leading practitioners. They will
explore such topics as how film composers choose a musical style for a
film; how they collaborate with a director (many of whom are unmusical);
what functions music serves toward a film's drama, characters or atmosphere;
and how editing changes during post-production can affect the development
of their score. It is a revealing and entertaining look at the filmmaking
process, exploring one of the most celebrated yet misunderstood elements
of movies.
Featured composers include:
Elmer Bernstein (THE GRIFTERS)
Carter Burwell (FARGO)
John Corigliano (ALTERED STATES, THE RED VIOLIN)
Mychael Danna (THE SWEET HEREAFTER)
Patrick Doyle (HENRY V, LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST)
Elia Cmiral (RONIN)
Philip Glass (KOYAANISQATSI, POWAQQATSI)
Elliot Goldenthal (THE BUTCHER BOY, TITUS)
Jerry Goldsmith (CHINATOWN)
Mark Isham (FLY AWAY HOME)
Michael Kamen (BRAZIL)
Alan Menken (BEAUTY AND THE BEAST)
Basil Poledouris (CONAN THE BARBARIAN)
Jocelyn Pook (EYES WIDE SHUT)
David Raksin (THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL)
David Shire (RETURN TO OZ)
Also featured is a conversation with record producer Robert Townson on the art of the soundtrack album and the legacy of Alex North.
"Fascinating ... [An] excellent examination of this mostly mysterious process."
— Java Magazine
"This is all fascinating stuff, and the only problem with the book is that
it makes you want to see the movies it discusses again and this time
really listen to them."
— Booklist
"A worthy insight to the world of film music."
— Austin Chronicle (7/20/01)
"**** ... [Add] this to your book shelf and listen to the music (and view
the films too) as you read this book."
— Film Score Monthly
"Gives readers insight into creativity in progress."
— Publishers Weekly (12/11/00)
"For any moviegoer or musician who's ever been curious about how to score a movie, Knowing the Score reveals an often heard but seldom seen part of the film industry."
— Turner Classics Movies' Book
Corner (5/01)
"You have presented one of the best symposiums of the most interesting aspects
of film scoring I have ever read. I am proud to have been included in
this very real and meaningful presentation of our art."
— Basil Poledouris
"Thank you for Knowing the Score. It is always a pleasure to see the
art of music for film presented with intelligence and accuracy."
— Elmer Bernstein
From Harper Entertainment
Trade Paperback
US$14.00 / Canada$20.95
336 pp.
ISBN: 0-380-80482-4
NOW AVAILABLE IN eBOOK FORMATS
Visit HarperCollins.com for information on the trade paperback and eBook editions, available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBookstore and other outlets.
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Photo by Randall Michelson
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AVAILABLE FROM HARPER COLLINS (U.S./Canada)
SUNDANCING
Hanging Out and Listening In at America's Most Important Film Festival
By JOHN ANDERSON
Edited by DAVID MORGAN
Every winter, 8,000 feet above sea level in the Utah snow, the hopes and dreams of young moviemakers are put on display at the Sundance Film Festival — the haven for independent films where you can show up a kid and go home a star. In barely twenty years of existence, the festival — now overseen by Robert Redford's Sundance Institute — has assumed tremendous importance for today's film culture: during the annual ten-day event, tiny Park City is so overrun by agents, publicists, studio executives, and other Hollywood types that in 1998 they blew out the town's cell-phone relay system.
JOHN ANDERSON, chief film critic for Newsday, attended his ninth Sundance in 1999, but this time he did more than screen films and leap for tables at overbooked restaurants. He interviewed performers and filmmakers of all kinds, including top prize winners, but also uncovered the effect of all this ballyhoo on the indie film scene — and on the bemused Park City locals. Alongside the thoughts of Diane Lane, Steve Buscemi, Mike Figgis and other distinguished film people are conversations with festival volunteers, bus drivers, policemen, shopkeepers, and more. Together, they form the most candid, most fascinating, most hilarious, and most human-sized coverage of the Sundance Film Festival
ever achieved.
JOHN ANDERSON is the chief film critic for New York's Newsday. He is a member and past chairman of the New York Film Critics Circle, and has survived nine Sundance Film Festivals.
Features photographs by Randall Michelson.
"Candid and often hilarious."
— Nashville Scene (2/7/2000)
"With the exception of film producer John Pierson's Spike, Mike, Slackers and
Dykes, no book about the indie film movement has etched a keener portrait
of the Darwinian spectacle that is the Sundance Film Festival. Sundance
was supposed to create a nurturing community of artists, but Anderson's
version sounds more like a shark tank. Filmmakers, producers and studio
reps all seems to share one sentiment: sadness that the event makes them
treat almost everyone outside their immediate circle as a rival or potential
rival."
— Matt Zoller Seitz, New York Press (3/29/2000)
"A thoroughly entertaining collage portrait of the festival."
— Stuart Klawans, The Nation (4/3/2000)
From Harper Paperbacks
Trade Paperback
U.S. $12.50 / Canada $19.50
288 pp.
ISBN: 0-380-80408-8
NOW AVAILABLE IN eBOOK FORMATS
Visit HarperCollins.com for information on the eBook formats from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBookstore and other outlets.
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