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TheArts
Python
person
A Liar’s Autobiography Graham Chapman . Methuen, 1981
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Graham -Chapman was born in 1942 in Learnington, ,England, now officially known as Royal Leamington Spa, moderately famous for the manufacture of gas cookers - or rather in 1940 in Stalbridge, Dorset. Or somewhere. His parents, Tim and Beryl (actually Walter, Edith and Mark) were outraged when he arrived because they’d been expecting a black, heterosexual Jew.” Thus began the life of Graham Chapman, one of the merry Pythonites. The rest of his life is described in his autobiography, aptly entitled A Liar’s Autobiography. Chapman quickly passed over his early life (as most of us would) and the book really starts with his medical schooling. After becoming a fully qualified doctor, Chapman put his training to good use by writing scripts for Doctor in the House. He met John Cleese (never quite describing how or where) and the two wrote together on the small Mediterranean island of Ibiza.
Rich
history
Sable island Bruce Armstrong Doubleday Canada,
1981
Tales of shipwrecks and hurricanes abound in this book, written in the classic style of a seafaring novel - a C. S. Lewis or Herman Melville perhaps. Sable Island is little more than an ever-changing sand dune. A mile wide and a curvy twenty-five miles long, it is situated a hundred and eighty miles southeast of Halifax off the coast of Nova Scotia. Bruce Armstrong, anactor, comedian, and a Canadian nonetheless, has succeeded in capturing the history and essence of what might be the Maritimes’ most treacherous isle. He does this not by using his own thoughts but by drawing upon the more colourful and expressive writings of authors gone by.
-lhere
_ -.
are neither Kiver or Brooks of fresh Water, but every where upon the Beach, vou mav come to fresh clear Water by digging about three feet, the Root . . by -which means _. . ot the tirass
On Ibiza he frolicked with the likes of Marty Feldman and his wife and David Frost. The book continues with Chapman’s life right up to the present. In case you’re wondering just which Pythonite Chapman is (I know I was), he played King Arthur in Holy Grail and Brian in Life of Brian. But if you’re looking for a book to tell you of the wild fun behind the scenes of Python, you’re in for a bit of a disappointment. Chapman rarely mentions Python, except to relate tales of what happened to him per-
is aiways kept
cool and alive, so that it cannot be subject to a Drought, as it was experienced three Years ago. The Climate may be called temperate, forin Winter
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sonally while on tour. The main topics of the book are alcohol and gays, probably because Chapman was into both. The book opens with Chapter Nought describing Chapman’s last meeting with alcohol withdrawal. The rest of the book deals with the drinks he drank and the men he had. He seemd to spend a lot of time walking up to people (in bars, on beaches, in the BBC cafe) and telling them he was gay just to see their reaction. In fact, he told everyone but his parents. (Eventually he told them. In the typical way of parents, each accepted the fact, but warned him that the other might get quite upset. j The book is structured as a series of humourous anecdotes on three periods of Chapman’s life - schooling, writing and life since Python. Overall, the tales are quite good and none are really too awful. They do d tend to repeat
livens
the Snow hardly lies above three Days on the Ground, so it is never extreme hot in Summer. and it is a rare Thinls to be frightened by an; Thunder. Rev. Andrew Le Mercier, 1753 Sable Island takes the reader back to the earliest discoverers of North America and their oft fatal encounters with the island in the fourteenth century. The historical narratives are regularly intertwined with Armstrong’sownexperiences on the island, which have spanned more than a decade. In its lifetime, Sable has trapped and destroyed over five hundred ships, from ancient sail-powered fishing schooners to the large, ironhulled freighters of today. It is the graveyard of thousands of misfortunate sailors. Hence the multitude of ghost stories. But Sable also hasa brighter and more positive side to its past. There are the heroic exbloits of the eleven Super. intendents that have been charged with managing the lifesaving station in operation since 1801. The visit of Alexander Graham Bell in 1898 is also of interest. There is much here for’the nature lover too. Sable is pop-
unveils
book
ulated by approximately 250 wild horses whose ancestors were most likely stranded _ _ there from some ancient shipwreck. Their tale is as fascinating as that of the human inhabitants. The island is also the only breeding ground for the pale-hued Ipswich sparrow. Thousands of gray sealsand a multitude of seabirds also make their home on Sable. I have few criticisms of’ Sable island. The black-and white photographs, while well taken and interesting, have been poorly reproduced; re-, duced to muddy grey tones that leave all detail obliterated. This detracts greatly from the commendable prose and certainly dampens one’s willingness to spend $19.95 for the book (even if it is hard cover). The only real fault of the author is his penchant for lapsing into romantic visions of Sable as some forlorn, female lover. However, this occurs not too frequently. Sable Island shines. Not for any outstanding genius on Armstrong’s part, but for the richness and depth of the island’s history and wildlife which stand as fascinating on their own. Peter Saracino
Tuesday,
September
8,198l.
Imprint
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autobiog
on the subject of homosexuality. Sometimes it seems that the events are the same, only the faces and places change. Chapman had five coauthors in this book: David Yallop, author of The Day the Laughter Stopped; Douglas Adams, inventor of The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy; Alex Martin, who holds the record for lasting the longest as coauthor; Pedro Montt,“An exChilean president who, with his conservative government, preferred to advance railroads and manufacturing industries and to ignore pressing social and labour problems rather than write other people’s autobiographies.” Also included in this merry gang is David Sherlock, Chapman’s roommate of many *years (“He has remained a close personal friend for the’ last 14 years, officer.“) A lot of the humour in the first part of the book isderived from the footnotesexchanged between variousauthors. This style is OK, but a bit overused towards the end. when I first started the book I thought it was horrible, because of the inconsistant
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