Calcium Made Interesting: Sketches, Letters, Essays and Gondolas

Graham Chapman was more than a professional jokester. Like those other outstanding comics Spike Milligan and Peter Cook he had an innate belief in absurdity as a way of life - his humour and sheer joy in madness for its own sake was as likely to find its outlet on the street as on the stage. The other Pythons often said that just listening to Graham tell them about one of his wild evenings out was fodder for a dozen sketches. He was inventive, fearless, willing to take chances and make stands.

Openly gay, capable of outrageous alcohol-fuelled behaviour, Graham Chapman lived an untidy life, and in some respects this book mirrors that. Inside is everything from television scripts and sketches to humorous essays on serious topics, comic flights of fancy that serve no purpose except to elicit a laugh, letters to friends and fellow hellraisers like Keith Moon and Ringo Starr, his behind-the-scenes account of the filming of Life of Brian, his views on fellow Pythons, letters to God, and much more. Most of the material has never before been published and offers unique insights into Chapman's life as well as his lasting impact on British comedy.

With an introduction by Jim Yoakum, archivist of the Chapman estate, Calcium Made Interesting is a celebration of the best of Chapman's work, and is as funny, innovative and surreal as any Python sketch.