Merle Oberon was a popular actress who was once nominated for an Oscar. But a fact that she hid from the public threatened to unspool her entire life’s work.
His new book, “Day,” is his first in nearly a decade. “How does anybody,” he said, “write a contemporary novel that’s about human beings that’s not about the pandemic?”
“Ceasefire,” his most famous poem, invoked the “Iliad” in exploring his country’s sectarian strife. But his work wasn’t Homeric in length: “Michael was a miniaturist.”
In an interview, the Monty Python veteran looks back on his experiences performing in the revered sketch troupe and touring the world as a travel host.