Comedy Legend Eric Idle Announces US Book Tour for Idle in Provence: A Brief History of Thyme
Monty Python star brings his celebrated new memoir to nine cities across the United States beginning September 29th, following the book's September 8th publication from Harper Select.
Harper Select, an imprint of HarperCollins, is excited to announce a nine-city US book tour celebrating comedy legend Eric Idle and his new book, Idle in Provence: A Brief History of Thyme, publishing September 8, 2026. The tour opens in New York City on September 29, 2026 and will travel across the country through late October, offering audiences an evening with the founding Monty Python member as he shares stories behind his most personal work yet.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260722884746/en/ Courtesy of Harper Select, an imprint of HarperCollins Focus.
Idle in Provence is equal parts memoir, travelogue and comedy master class. The book chronicles Idle's fifty-five-year journey restoring a crumbling stone shack—affectionately dubbed his "Shackeau"—into a beloved home in the French countryside. Purchased in 1971 at the height of Monty Python fame, the property had no electricity, water, or road access—only a view, a ruin, and endless opportunities for comic catastrophe. As the house transforms over the years, Idle’s life unfolds around it: Python, family, marriage, music, aging, friendship, fame, and the recurring indignities of French plumbing. Over the decades, the Shackeau becomes an unlikely gathering place for artists, comedians, musicians, and friends, including George Harrison and Robin Williams. Warm, irreverent, and moving, the book is as much about the people who pass through as the place itself—a portrait of creativity, resilience, absurdity, and the wild, unpredictable journey of being alive.
