The Greedy Bastard Diary: Around the States in 80 Days

By Eric Idle

A stunningly witty exploration of the American landscape -- not to mention a brilliant comic's mind -- this diary is chock-full of everything you ever wanted to know about Eric Idle, Monty Python, America, and sleeping on a bus. In these pages, the sixth-nicest Python is cheeky, touching, and funny when recounting the riotous tales of his beginnings, his affectionate reminiscences of his fellow Pythons, traveling the world, and taking us backstage at the smash Broadway hit Spamalot.

Fascinating, moving, at times even amusing, this book will dramatically improve your sex life, will make you feel intelligent and charming within the first several pages, and after a few chapters, will permanently eliminate all your personal or health problems. So come experience eighty days, 15,750 miles, and forty-nine cities as you never have before!

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Oct 13, 2009
• ISBN: 9780061827853

Reviews for The Greedy Bastard Diary

[flip_martian · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An edited and improved version of a blog for his website in the mid 2000s, while on the road on a tour of North America and Canada. I read it expecting to be amused - and was; I didn't expect to be moved quite so much. Written in his early 60s, he was clearly besotted with his wife, absolutely doted on his young daughter, who he missed a lot and enjoyed being a stand up comedian for the first time and playing in front of an audience with his small group of performers. Many descriptions of traveling, the towns and cities he played but quite often his blog would meander off into other areas. Some (having a good time with a famous friend) seemed a bit like name dropping and "whoo look at me with my famous mates" but he writes movingly and in detail about his friendship with George Harrison (a real bromance, if ever there was one), when Harrison and his wife were nearly killed in a break in at home by a madman, his death, and how he has grown tired of losing friends. Perhaps most movingly was the ending, when he writes of being back home, the delight of his daughter waking up to find him there and how happy he was to be home with family and dogs.It's the kind of book you can pick up and read anytime; the chapters are generally short, relating to each tour date. As a bonus there's also a chapter at the end on the genesis of Spamalot - how it came about, the response from the other Pythons, etc. Idle (unsurprisingly) writes very well, despite by his own admission never having been able to keep a diary for long. I was fortunate to pick this up for very little in a charity bookshop in 2018 but I think I'd have been more than happy to buy when it came out in 2005, if I'd known of its existence back then.

[lyndainoregon · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Funny but raunchy (what did you expect?) on-the-road diary of Eric Idle's 2005 cross-country "Greedy Bastard Tour".As might be expected, many of the reflections in the diary involve the Monty Python crew and their work. Less expected, and actually quite affecting, are stories about his childhood, his eventual reconciliation with his mother, and his friendships with performers like Robin Williams and George Harrison.Worth the read.

[verbafacio · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I haven't seen much Monty Python, but that didn't prevent me from loving The Greedy Bastard Diary. Eric Idle is hilarious, whether he's describing time on the tour bus or a wonderful weekend with George Harrison. Idle eloquently and memorably describes cities throughout the U.S. and Canada, and you get a real sense of the local flavor. Reading this book makes me sad that I missed this tour -- from the quotes and songs interspersed here and there, it sounds like a winner. A great read for Python fans, or those that like a good joke.

[masgatos · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very funny book, with lots of inside info onMonty Python and the Beatles.