Diaries 1969-1979 (2007)

After two comprehensive oral histories about Monty Python, is there anything left to reveal? But Michael Palin's delightful Diaries 1969-1979 recounts the troupe's heyday in real time, from the first BBC season through Life of Brian. He sometimes misses the greatest hits, like the evolution of the Holy Grail script. Still, he's honest but kind about unreliable alcoholic Graham Chapman (''I am hamstrung by an ever-conciliatory nature'') and touching about his dad's death from Parkinson's. Though unelaborated mentions of low-profile projects like Ripping Yarns might confuse some, insatiable fans will finish all 650 pages and say, ''That's it?'' A-