Halfway to Hollywood cover art

Halfway to Hollywood

Diaries 1980-1988, Volume Two

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Halfway to Hollywood

By: Michael Palin
Narrated by: Michael Palin
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £16.99

Buy Now for £16.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

Michael Palin's best-selling 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.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2009 Michael Palin (P)2020 Orion Publishing Group Limited Diaries & Journals Entertainment & Performing Arts Film & TV Memoirs, Diaries & Correspondence Comedy Celebrity

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Michael Palin: Around the World in 80 Days cover art
Rambling Man cover art
Himalaya cover art
Into Iraq cover art
Brazil cover art
Alan Partridge: Big Beacon cover art
From the Oasthouse: The Alan Partridge Podcast (Series 1) cover art
First Generation cover art
Alan Bennett: Diaries cover art
Journey of a Lifetime cover art
No Cunning Plan cover art
The Bill Bryson BBC Radio Collection cover art
High Hopes cover art
The Life and Loves of a He Devil cover art
David Jason: My Life cover art
Fight! cover art
All stars
Most relevant  
Palin would probably detest the tag ‘national treasure’ - or at least be 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 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

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
wonderfully diary showing how much effort went into Michael's day. Full of real events which I had forgotten.

michael palin diaries 80-88

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
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..

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Very well read I really enjoyed listening to while on a relaxing cruise in the Mediterranean

Superb

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I’m really enjoying the Palin diaries as background listening whilst working in the garden or generally doing other stuff. It’s a diary so there’s no plot arc to miss if you aren’t 100% focused, but Michael’s soothing and calm voice, with his wonderfully normal/healthy attitude to a life that’s anything but normal makes it very easy listening.

Great background listening

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Palin is just joyful. Such a great listen about the man, the time and life

National treasure

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Working my way through all the diaries. They don’t disappoint. Michael Palin writes beautifully and narrates perfectly.

A great listen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I’m an inveterate Palin fan and look forward to hearing the next chapters especially round the world

So enjoyable

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I wasn't expecting this... well, actually I was. I started off the wrong way round with the 1988-1998 diaries, but this is just as absorbing. You have to like someone to spend 28 hours with them - and then sign up for 28 more (and 28 to come 69-79). It's a fascinating insight into how much peripheral 'stuff' you have to do when you write/star in a film - you're committed to endless rounds of promotion/talks/interviews/photo calls. Michael doesn't linger too long on any subject and sometimes you wished he'd go into slightly more detail, but the pace of it means there's never any period when you want to press the FF button. The big take-aways from it are: how much he likes champagne (not very Sheffield), how enduring the Python team are as a friendship group, how much b*******s you have to put up with to get a film made.
His impersonations are really good too. If he mentions Allan Bennet and doesn't do the voice you feel hard done by, And Allan Bleasdale
What I'd really like to see are the diaries going forward, but just as the BBC films have shown, he's an amiable companion to have a long with you, whenever - and I will enjoy these 72 hours

Like a Palin journey - you want it to keep going

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
When Michael tells us Angela has “done it” I was in tears, respect to you Michael.

As ever a great listen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews