The Brand New Monty Python Bok [sic] is the second book to be published by the British comedy team. Edited by Eric Idle, it contains more text based humour than the first book, Monty Python's Big Red Book.

The hardback version was originally published with a white dust jacket that was deliberately designed to appear grubby, with realistic looking smudged fingerprints on the front, which fooled enough booksellers to complain to the publishers when it first hit the shelves in the 1970s. This was just the beginning of the real gag however. Should the offended parties attempt to dislodge the grubby dust cover, they were met with an even more 'grubby' mock pornographic magazine cover underneath which purported to be titled 'Tits 'n Bums - a weekly look at church architecture', with articles such as "Are you still a verger?". Just imagine the shriek of embarrassment from browsers in WH Smiths, innocently slipping off the dust cover out of curiosity and then going red in the face with panic as they fumbled to stuff the book back into its sleeve as tits and bums, blazoned across the cover, caught the attention of opinionated bystanders in the shop. Mutterings of 'pervert' and disdainful glares following them as they 'leg it' out the door before they are recognised! (Or, at least, I like to imagine such a scenario). I laughed myself to tears before I'd even opened the cover - which is a good way to start a comedy book.
If you did not find that offensive enough, then the first page contains a glued in school library fly sheet containing a list of all the students who withdrew the book; incl. J.P. Sartre, S. Davis Jr., Shirley Bassey, and lastly a certain 'M. Thatcher'.
Once again, I fell onto the floor visualising this crude porn cover sitting proudly on the shelves of Ferndean School Library. What a thing to suggest! At this point I was crying so hard with shame and laughter that I could barely read the words on the first page. I don't think there has ever been a funnier T.V. Tie in comedy book released before or since!

Inside:
Learn the secret Welsh art of self defence Llap-Goch, acquaint yourself with the Python Book of Etiquette, read the comic adventures of Walter the Wallabee, learn how to cook rat, learn to play Cheeseshop - an exciting new word game for two based on real life retailing, Hamsters: a warning, Teach yourself surgery, and many, many other ridiculous and amusing notions...

Its all good smutty fun. Naughty school-boy humour really; with one foot just over the line of decency which made this troop of comedians so cutting edge at a time when businessmen still wore bowler hats and rubbed shoulders on the tube with the first punk rockers. Strange days indeed!

p.s. Look out for page 71 !!! ( )

Monty Python