Traveling to Work ― Diaries 1988-1998

A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction of 2011 title

The second volume of Michael Palin's diaries covers the bulk of the 1980s, a decade in which the ties binding the Pythons loosened--they made their last filmMonty Pyton's Meaning of Life in 1983. For Michael, writing and acting took over much of his life, culminating in his appearances inA Fish Called Wanda, in which he played the hapless, stuttering Ken, and won a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor.Halfway to Hollywood follows Palin's torturous trail through seven movies and ends with his final preparations for the documentary that was to change his life--Around the World in 80 Days.
During these years he co-wrote and acted in Terry Gilliam's Time Bandits as well as spearing in Gilliam's follow-up successBrazil. Palin co-produced, wrote and played the lead in The Missionary opposite Maggie Smith, who also appeared with him inA Private Function, written by Alan Bennett. In television the decade was memorablefor East of Ipswich, inspired his links with Suffolk. Such was his fame in the US, he was enticed into once again hosting the enormously popular showSaturday Night Live. He filmed one of the BBC's Great Railway Journeys as well as becoming chairman of the pressure group Transport 2000. His life with Helen and the family remains a constant, as the children enter their teens.
Palin's joy of writing is evident once more in Halfway to Hollywood as he demonstrates his continuing sense of wonder at the world in which he finds himself. A world of screens large and small.

MICHAEL PALIN is a scriptwriter, comedian, novelist, television presenter, actor and playwright. He established his reputation withMonty Python's Flying Circus and Ripping Yarns. His work also includes several films with Monty Python, as well asThe Missionary, A Private Function, A Fish Called Wanda, American Friends and Fierce Creatures. His television credits include two films for the BBC'sGreat Railway Journeys, the plays East of Ipswich and Number 27, and Alan Bleasdale'sGBH.

In 2006 the first volume of his diaries, 1969-1979: The Python Years, became an international bestseller. He has also written books to accompany his seven very successful travel series,Around the World in 80 Days, Pole to Pole, Full Circle, Hemingway Adventure,Sahara, Himalaya and New Europe. He is the author of a number of children's stories, the playThe Weekend and the novel Hemingway's Chair.