Maybe you don't have an up to date python version. I'm using 2.4.2. I tried: import pprint pprint.pprint([1,2,3,4,[0,1,2,[3,4]],5], width=1,indent=4) [ 1, 2, 3, 4, [ 0, 1, 2, [ 3, 4]], 5] Works fine.