The History Book Club discussion

Alisa, this is your thread for 2018. I have included the link to the required format thread and an example. If you had a 2017 thread - it will be archived so when you get the opportunity move over your completed books and formats to the 2018 thread - but we will allow time for you to do that.

Please follow the standard required format below - I hope you enjoy your reading in 2018. Here is also a link for assistance with the required guidelines:

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Our Required Format:

JANUARY

1. by Winston S. Churchill
Finish date: January 2018
Genre: (whatever genre the book happens to be)
Rating: A
Review: You can add text from a review you have written but no links to any review elsewhere even goodreads. And that is about it. Just make sure to number consecutively and just add the months.

IMPORTANT - THE REVIEW SHOULD BE SHORT AND SWEET - THERE ARE NO LINKS OF ANY KIND IN THE BODY OF THE REVIEW ALLOWED. NONE. DO NOT REFER TO ANY OTHER BOOK IN YOUR BRIEF REVIEW. THE ONLY BOOK CITED IN YOUR REVIEW IS THE ONE YOU ARE REVIEWING - NO OTHERS. ALL LINKS TO OTHER THREADS OR REVIEWS ARE DELETED IMMEDIATELY - THERE WILL BE NO WARNING. WE CONSIDER THIS SELF PROMOTION AND IT IS NOT ALLOWED AND IS IN VIOLATION OF OUR RULES AND GUIDELINES.

JANUARY

1. by Maggie Nelson
Finish date: Jan 1, 2018
Genre: true crime
Rating: B
Review: Unusual book, not sure how to describe this. It's a mix of true crime, family memoir, and trial drama rolled into one. The author's aunt Jane, her mother's sister, was murdered and thought to have been the victim of a serial killer in Michigan, although her death was never officially tied to that series. Some 20+ years later the family gets a call from a detective informing them they are about to arrest a suspect who they believe is the perpetrator based on newly uncovered DNA evidence collected at the crime scene. The reopening of the case throws the surviving family members into the midst of renewed questions, grief, and pain. The author delves into it all including a somewhat fractured family past and other tragedies they lived through in the intervening years. They attend the trial of the new suspect and sit through some pretty unseemly evidentiary testimony and gruesome autopsy photographs. Through it all the author takes you on her personal struggles with grief, reconciling conflicting emotions about her relationships with her mother, father, step-father, and sister, and her attempt to honor the memory and life of her aunt, who was killed before she was born. Well done book. Different.

2. by Jon Krakauer
Finish date: Jan 7, 2018
Genre: adventure/disaster
Rating: B+
Review: I live in Seattle and on a reasonably clear day Mount Rainier, at 14,000+ feet, graces the skyline with her majestic beauty and mystique. Sometimes it looks like you can reach out and touch it. It has an undeniable allure. There are lots and lots of climbers up there every year, and it is a highly desirable North American peak for people to scale that still offers challenge and excitement and danger. High altitude mountain climbing is not for the faint of heart yet it is easy to understand how people can be seduced by the idea of conquering a big feat like this. But you look at Everest and wonder why anyone in their right mind would risk their life to go up there. Aren't some things and places in nature better left to just be? Apparently humans can't help themselves. “Everest has always been a magnet for kooks, publicity seekers, hopeless romantics, and others with a shaky hold on reality.”

Jon Krakauer was offered an opportunity to join an Everest climb so he could write a magazine article. He ended up on a historic climb that turned tragic for several in his party as well as a couple other expeditions on the mountain at the same time. Krakauer is a very good writer and he conveys the magnitude of the operation, the challenge, the personalities, and the journey quite well. That he managed to survive could be chalked up to what turned out to be some fairly good decisions on his part despite his relative lack of experience at this level. It is tough to breath up there much less think, and although he had climbing experience this was a first for him. Seeing the journey through his eyes was fascinating. With the benefit of hindsight, he levels criticism at some of the planners, guides, and fellow climbers, that may be warranted but understandably was met with controversy by loved ones and some in the elite climbing community. Nonetheless, it is the true story of a harrowing climb that few ever attempt. Gripping story.

3. by Piper Kerman

Finish date: Jan 15, 2018
Genre: true crime/prison life
Rating: B-
Review: Well educated privileged white woman seeking excitement in her life after graduating from an elite women's university somehow decides that life as a drug mule is a good idea. After becoming bored with her lesbian lover and having a close call with law enforcement, she decides to call it quits and establishes a new life for herself, hoping and assuming as long as her former lover keeps her mouth shut all will be well. One of her male friendships turns romantic, and she becomes engaged. Her new life plans turn awry when the Feds come knocking at her door ten years after the fact. She hires a high priced criminal defense lawyer, who manages to get a sentence for her that is far below what others usually get for the crime: 15 months in Federal prison. With time off for good behavior, she serves 12 months at the women's prison in Danbury, Connecticut, which is close to her family and fiance. This book is about her travels through the criminal justice system and centers on her experience in a minimum security federal prison.

This story left me underwhelmed. Although the author develops some remorse for her crime and eventually shows some sense of empathy to her prison mates, I can't get over her lack of personal insight about her privilege. At one point early in her incarceration she reflects that she is better able to cope with the cramped quarters in a women's prison thanks to her experience at a women's liberal arts college. Really? Being resourceful is something she clearly never had to do before she lands in prison and is impressed with her prison mates who find ways to literally make something out of nothing to save their sanity and pass the time. She learns how to make deviled eggs using hard boiled eggs, mustard, mayo, hot sauce, and pickle relish. Somehow this never occurred to her until a fellow inmate made them with meal-time leftovers. Huh.

I think what she really learned at college was manipulation, which she uses to her benefit at Danbury. She gives little pet names to every woman she encounters based on her limited knowledge of the person and what brought them there, and gingerly navigates prison relationships by avoiding trouble or engaging in too much personal involvement. She decides she will stay fit by doing yoga and running track every day, and gets her friends, family, and fiance on the outside to send her mountains of letters and books, the latter of which she selectively shares. She regularly describes how much she is loved by just about everyone save the occasional creepy or rough prison guard. When she leaves prison, waiting for her is her adoring family and fiance, a paying professional job, and a home. I would venture to guess there is very little about her story that is relevant to other prisoners.

Throughout the book, I just couldn't conjure up much sympathy for her. She says in the book's afterward that she is now involved with a women's prison reform group. Maybe if she applies her rudimentary understanding of the prison system to real reform work she can make a difference. I hope she uses her new found empathy and awareness for some greater good in her life.

4. by Candice Millard
Finish date: Jan 28, 2018
Genre: presidents, adventure/disaster/exploration
Rating: A
Review: Remarkable story of the exploration journey by then-former President Teddy Roosevelt down a previously uncharted River in South America in 1914. As adept as the former President was at confronting the elements on outings into the wild, he left the pre-trip planning and organization to people he trusted but who did not collectively have the requisite appropriate knowledge to adequately prepare. The saving grace was TR's son Kermit and the Colonel Rondon of South America, who each had a unique role in propelling the expedition despite incredibly trying circumstances. The author did a remarkable job of weaving in the essence of Roosevelt's deeply ingrained personal traits, the dynamic of the expedition team, the environment, ecosystem, and wildlife encounters in the Amazon jungle (snakes - I *hate* snakes), and the treacherous nature of the undertaking. It's really mindblowing when you stop to think about it, for anyone much less a former US President! An entirely unexpected story and a great book.

I just watched Into the Amazon on American Experience on PBS last night about this expedition. Talk about grueling. Don't know if you have seen it or not, Alisa, but I believe it is one of those that you can watch online rather than wait to catch on your local channel. If you haven't seen it, you might like watching what you just read about.

Thanks Pamela, I’ll check it out. It was a pretty rough journey, that’s for sure!

Great start Alisa. I will archive your 2017 thread - it will still be open but in the archive folder.

Thanks Bentley.

MARCH

5. by Katherine Boo
Finish date: Mar 4, 2018
Genre: nonfiction/modern day India
Rating: B-
Review: Gut wrenching story that follows the lives of multiple families living in the slums of Mumbai located in the shadow of the Mumbai international airport and surrounding luxury hotels. It is difficult to comprehend how people can survive living in the worst of abject poverty. The caste system and long held customs and belief systems furthers the oppression that keeps people down regardless of their considerable efforts to lift themselves out of life in the gutter. On top of this, government corruption is virulent. It's a vicious cycle. I wish there was a glimmer of hope in this book, but beyond the dreams of these people that they may one day overcome, there isn't much to hope for. Tough read.

6. by Robin Sloan
Finish date: Mar 12, 2018
Genre: novel
Rating: C
Review: Lois, a newly hired software programmer at a robotics company in San Francisco, is so consumed by her job that her diet devolves to nutritive gel favored by her work colleagues and soup and bread she orders from a delivery service. When the delivery company goes out of business the owners leave Lois, who they dubbed as their number one eater, with their sourdough starter and give her a brief lesson on how to make bread. Lois stumbles through it at first but her result is very good, and before you know it she is embarking on a small commercial production. Lois competes for a spot at The Ferry Building and instead gets involved with a food lab whose goal is to disrupt food production through the creative application of technology. As you might expect, there are some wayward characters and unusual ideas involved along the way.

The book started off as a fun adventure and there were some humorous aspects to the story. The ending was less than satisfying unfortunately and the whole book just left me flat. Cute premise but just didn't work for me. It was nice to have a woman as a central character not built around gender-based stereotypes.

Alisa wrote: "MARCH

5. by Katherine Boo
Finish date: Mar 4, 20..."

This sounds interesting. I've never understood the caste system very well. Does it give some explanation of it, Alisa?

Pamela, not really. It touches on some of the themes but not as much of an explanation or historical perspective. This book centers on the lives of a handful of people in one slum on the fringe of the Mumbai airport - really a small slice of it.

Still sounds like something I would like :)

It was interesting and offered perspective on something I’ve never been exposed to directly. Worth reading.

7. by Terry McDermott
Finish date: Mar 18, 2018
Genre: baseball
Rating: A
Review: Nine innings, nine pitch types, nine chapters. Using the framework of a perfectly pitched game - specifically the perfect game pitched by Felix Hernandex in Aug 2012 - this books tells the story of baseball, pitching, and the art of deception. Drawing on his own experience growing up amidst the heyday of Prairie League and being a lifelong baseball fan, the author describes the evolution of the game using stories and stats from major league games over the years. Each chapter blends vignettes from the past, a description of a specific type of pitch and how it came into the game, who mastered it, the scientific explanation of how the ball moves and how it might appear visually to the hitter, and the actual game action of Felix's no-hitter in that inning. Somehow the author blends this all seamlessly, and by using an actual game also brings the perspective of the fans into the fold.

There is something about baseball that blends science, art, emotion, and lore in a way that is unlike any other sport. To love baseball is to be captivated by it. Terry McDermott is a great story teller and masterfully wrote a beautiful homage to a game he loves. Great book.

Beautifully said Alisa - you have captured the essence of baseball. Looking forward to opening day!

APRIL

8. by Timothy Egan
Finish date: April 1, 2018
Genre: depression era
Rating: A
Review: Rule number one - don't mess with Mother Nature. The devastating consequences of 'the wheat rush' in the Great Plains and lower Mid-West gave rise to the dust storms of the 1930's (what became known as "the dirty 30s") that ruined the land and ecosystem, and the families who depended on it to sustain life. The storms were persistent and vicious. The winds lifted tons of soil from millions of acres where the perennial plains grasses once grew and were ripped out of the earth and replaced with wheat, an annual. In the space of a few years, there was nothing to anchor the soil the way the grasses had done, and with nothing to stand in the way the slightest wind would quickly gain velocity and pick up massive amounts of soil with it. Exacerbated by a drought and the lack of rain and minimal water resources, livestock could no longer be sustained, and the massive amounts of dirt being dropped during the dust storms was so thick it would permeate buildings forcing schools to close and leaving people surrounded by inches thick dust in their homes on a daily basis. Giant drifts of dust blocked roads, buried barns and homes, blocked the sun turning day into night. Dust pneumonia became a thing - people were literally suffocating from dust. This all happens during The Great Depression, and with no money or resources, these people had nowhere to go and little hope for any relief. Life is grim.

Eventually the government finds a way to start addressing the issue but even figuring out what caused it in the first place much less finding a solution was no easy task and fraught with disagreements and challenges. A soil conservation program developed by FDR's administration eventually provides some answers and help, the rain finally returns (sort of), but many of the once budding agriculture communities never recovered and were lost. Once you mess with Mother Nature on a grand scale by stripping millions of acres of land, you can't just put it all back.

The story of The Great American Dust Bowl is expertly told at the hands of Tim Egan. He brings the story to life through the eyes of people who were there, confronted the harsh realities, and did everything they could to persevere and hold onto their land and way of life.

You completed it. Congrats

9. by Gene Roberts
Finish date: Apr 21, 2018
Genre: Civil rights
Rating: B/B+
Review: "If a tree falls in the forest and there is no one there to hear it does it still make a sound?" The age old philosophical question to verify the existence of an event resonates loudly through the theme of this book. If not for the reporters, editors, and photographers, would the realities of the civil rights movement have entered the consciousness of anyone outside the south? It arguably would have taken a different path. Enlightening in-depth analysis of how newspaper, and later, television journalism narrated the story of the critical events of the civil rights movement starting with post-WWII life through the Watts riots. The bulk of this book focused on the battle over desegregation in public education in the 1950's through the march on Selma for voting rights in the 1960's. Direct and detailed account although at times the players were hard to follow and the narration wandered at times. Still, a lot to digest here and an important and well done body of work. The details are not for the faint of heart and the racial hate rhetoric espoused by the rabid segregationists is alarmingly similar to the dog whistle verbiage embraced by the modern day hard right. Have we not learned anything or evolved from the past?

Alisa - a nice Civil Rights book - I hope you will add it also to the Civil Rights folder. Thank in advance.

Alisa, thank you for your most thoughtful review of this very important book.

MAY

10. by Aja Raden
Finish date: May 12, 2018
Genre: micro history
Rating:B+
Review: The evolution of modern world politics and the struggle for world power traces back to the fight over gravel or refuse that we have all been duped into believing is valuable and imbues power unto the beholder. Crown jewels. Diamond in the rough. The mere mention of emeralds, rubies, sapphires, and pearls evokes the ideals of royalty, wealth, prestige, and power. How did it come to be that bits of gravel have become so highly sought after that we will pay ridiculous sums of money as an expression of love and eternity? Diamonds are glorified and very well marketed bits of earth and we have all subscribed to a genius marketing scheme for decades! Why? How? The answer lies in human nature and the powerful emotion (some would call it sin) of desire.

I loved this book. It is exactly my kind of history. A lot of fact and a touch of snark all woven together with brilliance in a tell-it-like-it-is style. I learned a lot about the real motivation behind the destruction of the Spanish Armada, and the strange doings of English royalty in the 1600-1800s. That period of history is largely unrelatable for me, but this book put it all on the map. The history of commodities never disappoints.

11. by Cecile Richards
Finish date: May 20, 2018
Genre: Activism
Rating: B+
Review: This books feels like the conversation you want to have with people who don't know WTF they are talking about when it comes to women's health care decisions. Much more than that, however, it is a motivational story on the grit it takes to stand up, speak out, and fight for a worthy cause on the national stage. It is clear Cecile gets some of her hutzpah from her mother, Ann Richards (the first woman Governor of Texas), but just as clear that she is a woman of her own mind and means. Every bit of this was inspiring. Her narrative serves as a reminder that every little bit matters, than we can all make a difference, and that organizing and grassroots campaigns are fundamental to bringing forward the voice of those who might not otherwise be heard. I don't know what Cecile Richards plans to do next in her career, but it is clear she is not done making trouble.

12. by Chris Matthews
Finish date: May 28, 2018
Genre: politics
Rating: B
Review: Bobby Kennedy - cut down in the prime of his life as he was coming to his own. This is a well done examination of Bobby's life and the influences that shaped him personally and as a political figure. There were a few topics where I would have liked a little more detail, but despite that the book gives a really good sense of how Bobby's beliefs were shaped and his claim to purpose. Heartbreaking recount of an American idealist lost to the very violence he opposed.

It would have been a better book had the author not periodically injected himself into the narrative, but it was a minor detraction from an otherwise worthy effort.

Alisa wrote: "12. by Chris Matthews
Finish date: May 28, 2018
Genre: politics
Rating: B
Review: Bobby Kenned..."

Nice review, Alisa.
Did you hear on the news that Robert Kennedy, Jr. is requesting a reopening of the investigation into RFK's assassination? He believes after his own investigations that Sirhan Sirhan wasn't a lone shooter and others were involved. It is now 50 years ago!

Thanks Elizabeth. I heard the news report you are referring to. It must be an enormously painful legacy to endure, and never really be able to make sense of it.

Alisa wrote: "Thanks Elizabeth. I heard the news report you are referring to. It must be an enormously painful legacy to endure, and never really be able to make sense of it."

Agreed.

JUNE

13. by Willa Cather
Finish date: June 21, 2018
Genre: Classics
Rating: C
Review: A young Catholic priest sent to the American southwest becomes the Archbishop in New Mexico territory in the mid-to-late 1800s. The story is his physical and spiritual journey as he traverses the southwest, and his encounters with people of wide ranging spiritual beliefs including various Native American Indian tribes and people of Mexico. It is a gentle and lilting story written with great imagery and soulful ease.

14. by DK Publishing
Finish date: June 20, 2018
Genre: travel
Rating: A
Review: These Eyewitness guides are really well done and come complete with easy to use maps. This one on Madrid was my constant companion on a recent trip and indispensable in helping us navigate around the city with ease.

15. by DK Publishing
Finish date: June 12, 2018
Genre: travel
Rating: A
Review: Another great travel guide, used it constantly in Barcelona. Great maps!

Alisa, what a great way to plan for your trip. I’m looking forward to hearing all about it as it is a place I’m planning on visiting soon!-

The Eyewitness travel guides are the best. Have used them for other cities as well and always find them very reliable, practical, and informative. We threw the Rick Steves guides in the trash (Sorry, Rick.)

16. by Andy Herbach (no photo)
Finish date: June 20, 2018
Genre: food, travel
Rating: B+
Review: I love this author's handy little food and menu translator for traveling. The few restaurant recommendations are usually quite good, and the margin notes in the guide are entertaining, informative, and whimsical. Small enough to hold it in your lap discreetly while reading a menu without looking like an obvious tourist, and helps you make informed selections. And thanks to this particular guide, I discovered the small delicious razor clams we enjoyed several times during our stay in Barcelona. Yay!

17. by Kate Andersen Brower
Finish date: June 30, 2018
Genre: First Ladies
Rating: B
Review: Insights into the modern era First Ladies from Jackie Kennedy through Michelle Obama. The role of the First Lady is not precast, but rather something that is shaped by each woman who has occupied the White House. The book offers really interesting insights about the relationship between this elite group of women, their motivations, orientation to and challenges with life as a public figure not of their own choosing, and the enormous pressure which each endured.

AUGUST

18. by Dee Brown
Finish date: Aug 12, 2018
Genre: Native Americans
Rating: A
Review: This book is the heartbreaking and appalling account of the extermination of the Native Americans and ensuing land grab and theft/destruction of natural resources in the mid-late 1800s by the US government. Unlike the sanitized pablum that is offered up in the public school system, this account is from the perspective of the conquered. Should be required reading for everyone who calls themselves an American. Horrendous.

Great review, Alisa. That's just how I felt when I read it all those years ago.

19. by Cassie Dandridge Selleck
Finish date: Aug 15, 2018
Genre: Southern fiction
Rating: B
Review: Southern fiction with the themes of racial tension, matriarchal power and influence always well-intentioned but sometimes counterproductive, innocence lost, and justice. Lessons learned, and not everyone is redeemed. Short and sweet, just like porch teatime.

Alisa, nice review of this memorable piece of southern fiction.

20. by Mark Haddon
Finish date: Aug 21, 2018
Genre: Novel
Rating: B+
Review: Imaginative and clever, at times humorous, a little bit sad, some sympathetic and likable characters and some not so much. The protagonist is a 15 year old on the autism spectrum and the story is told through his point of view. All in a really well done story. Unexpectedly good!

21. by Graham Greene
Finish date: Aug 29, 2018
Genre: classic fiction
Rating: C+
Review: Jim Wormold, a vacuum cleaner salesman, is a British ex-pat living in Cuba in the late 1950s when he is recruited by M16 to become a spy for the British government. He does it because he needs the money to support his needy teenage daughter who lives with him since his divorce. Wormold however has little intention of actually spying on others much less recruiting additional agents, and he spends most of his days hanging out in a bar with the eccentric Dr. Hasselbacher. In order to keep the cash flow going from M16, Wormold fabricates profiles of agents based on real people he knows of in Havana, and generates drawings of imagined weapons sites that he models after vacuum cleaner parts. When M16 sends him a few staff and supplies to support his mission, Wormold then has to figure out how to extricate himself from this imagined web. It gets complicated when he starts suspecting and realizing that some of his imagined characters are indeed acting for contrary purposes. The characters are entertaining and the humor is cleverly done. The espionage component is a fun cat and mouse type drama.

Perhaps my problem with reading classics is that I enter it with high expectations that I will be charmed and captivated. The premise of this book has the elements, and the writing is good, but somehow like many other classics it falls flat in the delivery.

SEPTEMBER

22. by Mike Tidwell(no photo)
Finish date: Sept 9, 2018
Genre: Louisiana Gulf Coast
Rating: B+
Review: The Louisiana coastline is disappearing at the astonishing rate of 25 acres a day. EVERY DAY. But when you mention this to people, at best they will lament the sad sate of environmental affairs and our seeming inability to make progress on battling climate change but more likely they will just shrug their shoulders. It may be sad but what can be done? Plenty, if there was political will and money and business and government and communities working together. The reason a lot of people shrug their shoulders over this however is that they really don't understand what it means to them in real terms. The Gulf of Mexico and specifically the gulf coast of Louisiana is a huge source of the seafood consumed in America, and that industry supports the livelihood and way of life for generations of people who still live off the land and perpetuate a unique culture. The ecosystem of the gulf waters is also dying off rapidly with the deterioration of the marshlands. Can the erosion be reversed? Can the coastline be rebuilt or at least saved? Can the gulf oil & gas industry operate in a way that minimizes impact on the environment, and is there a role for them to play in rebuilding part of what they destroyed with all the canal dredging in the gulf access waterways? Ironically, some of the very forces that are destroying the wetlands are creating a boom in brown shrimp harvest. The very people whose means of earning a living relies on this harvest are experiencing a boom that is on the verge of turning to bust in a few short years. Then what happens? Where will they go? The loss of natural barriers also means the loss of protection from hurricanes. A strong enough storm unimpeded has the potential to wipe out not only the coastal communities, but New Orleans and upriver to Baton Rouge and beyond. You think Katrina was bad? It can get a whole lot worse very soon unless something is done. NOW.

I got carried away there for a minute with the questions, but they are real, and the issues are important, and deserve far more attention than the short shrift the topic gets today.

This book sounds the alarm on the current state of affairs of deterioration of the bayous and coastline of Louisiana. Part environmental treatise, part travelogue, part cultural examination, and delivered with a vivid illustrative and heartfelt narrative, this book is really a love letter to the bayou. The author manages to mix science and culture studies to tell the story of this huge ecological dilemma through the eyes and words of the people who live along the bayous and rely, in some way, on the gulf for their survival. Really well done, highly recommend this book to anyone who cares about our environment. If nothing else it will give you new appreciation for the shrimp on your plate.

Great review, Alisa, but you should add "(no photo)" after the author link.

Done. Thanks Vicki.

Wonderful review, Alisa.

Good review Alisa

23. by Bob Woodward
Finish date: Sept 23, 2018
Genre: presidents, politics
Rating: B
Review: A glimpse of the ruinous behavior of the ignorant, impetuous, crass, and delusional person who is the current sitting President of the United States. The information in this book is clearly supplied by multiple first hand accounts of people who were in the room when it happened, which is trademark for Bob Woodward. The story line could use more consistency, but considering the subject matter it's understandable! The President rules by fear and intimidation, refuses to learn or consider a contrary point of view, has no grasp of how the economy works or the interplay between national security, trade, and international relations, and is guided by nothing more than his own impulses. He cannot differentiate between his beliefs and the truth. It's absolutely terrifying to me that this man is in power. I'm also not comforted by the behavior of aides and staffers who take it upon themselves to engage in subversive and diversionary tactics to keep the president from doing something they view as wrong. Do they serve the president or serve the country? If those things conflict then what happens? Disturbing and frightening.

OCTOBER

24. by Eric Idle
Finish date: Oct 17, 2018
Genre: humor, autobiography
Rating: B/B-
Review: Eric Idle tells the story of his career as a comedian and a beloved member of Monty Python with the wit, grace, and humor one might expect. He offers a glimpse into his personal life, the not-always-wise choices he made, and some of his enduring relationships with a few famous (George Harrison, Robin Williams) and others who are not household names. Hard to believe that Monty Python is marking their 50 year anniversary! Humor, silliness, and laughter in the end saves us all. Fun biography.

Love, love, love Monty Python!

You would enjoy this one, Pamela. Some really funny parts.