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.
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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.
“This new book, Idle in Provence, is about what I did in the shadows, when I escaped the crowds, took off the grease paint, removed the silly costumes and became a poor forked animal on a tiny ball circling a star for a brief moment in a ginormous expanding Universe,” said Idle in an exclusive book announcement with People Magazine. “France gave me peace and wisdom, gave me the time to learn the names of some stars and constellations, as well as help me understand my place on the surface of a revolving and occasionally revolting planet.”
The tour features a mix of solo appearances and special conversations with acclaimed guests. Confirmed dates and venues include:
- New York, NY — September 29, 2026 — Symphony Space, in conversation with Adam Gopnik (tickets)
- Saratoga Springs, NY — October 1, 2026 — Saratoga Book Festival (tickets)
- Chicago, IL — October 4, 2026 — Chicago Arts & Humanities Festival (tickets)
- Pasadena, CA — October 10, 2026 — Vroman’s Books at The Arcadia Performing Arts Center (tickets)
- Palm Springs, CA — October 13, 2026 — Palm Springs Cultural Center (tickets)
- Santa Monica, CA — October 22, 2026 — JAMS Performing Arts Center, in conversation with Weird Al (tickets)
- San Francisco, CA — October 25, 2026 — Book Passage at Dominican University, (tickets)
- Portland, OR — October 27, 2026 — Revolution Hall (tickets)
- Seattle, WA — October 29, 2026 — Neptune Theatre (tickets)
Idle in Provence will be available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook formats with Idle narrating. You can find more information on the tour and can preorder today at: https://www.harpercollinsfocus.com/harper-select/books/idle-in-provence/.
ABOUT ERIC IDLE:
Eric Idle is a comedian, actor, author, and singer-songwriter who found immediate fame on television with the sketch-comedy show Monty Python’s Flying Circus. Following its success, the group began making films that include Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Monty Python’s Life of Brian, and Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life. Eric wrote, directed, and created The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash, the world’s first-ever mockumentary, as well as the Tony Award–winning musical Spamalot. His memoir Always Look on the Bright Side of Life was a New York Times bestseller.
ABOUT HARPER SELECT:
Harper Select, based in Nashville, TN, publishes an exclusive number of hand-selected memoirs and narrative nonfiction each year. Recent NYT Bestsellers include books from Joanna Gaines, Mark Harmon, Leon Carroll, Jr., and Loyola Chicago’s Sister Jean.
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