Always Look on the Bright Side of Life: A Sortabiography by Eric Idle

WARNING: DO NOT READ THIS BOOK ON PUBLIC TRANSIT—unless, of course, you don't mind being stared at while you laugh uncontrollably at every other sentence. I certainly was. Always Look on the Bright Side of Life: A Sortabiography (Crown, $27) is an ode to a man who has led a rather extraordinary life, written by the man himself. Eric Idle manages to be both hilariously self-deprecating and touchingly humble about his accomplishments. Tracing his life from boarding school through his wild career in Monty Python's Flying Circus and beyond, Idle's book is a fascinating, fun, and altogether worthy addition to the bookshelf of any Python fan. Or any fan of good humor, for that matter.