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My copy of "The Book of Bond" by Col Bill Tanner arrived today.

PerdoggPerdogg
edited June 2013 in Literary 007 Posts: 686
It wasn't cheap, but I recommend a copy. I am assuming the Viking edition is the same as the Cape version, with the exception it doesn't have the reversible cover that says "Bible to be Read as literature". I would have preferred the Cape version, but due to Abe's search algorithm, I initially found the Viking copy. The book was not price-clipped, US version was $2.50 in 1965 (about $15 to $20 by today's equivalent dollars). The book is not big, probably a 12mo. The art work is wonderful.

Everything source in the book is noted.

Kingsley Amis was truly a Bond fan! I wonder how his Martin feels about Fleming-blond.

Comments

  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    edited December 2013 Posts: 17,810
    Perdogg wrote:
    It wasn't cheap, but I recommend a copy. I am assuming the Viking edition is the same as the Cape version, with the exception it doesn't have the reversible cover that says "Bible to be Read as literature". I would have preferred the Cape version, but due to Abe's search algorithm, I initially found the Viking copy. The book was not price-clipped, US version was $2.50 in 1965 (about $15 to $20 by today's equivalent dollars). The book is not big, probably a 12mo. The art work is wonderful.

    Everything source in the book is noted.

    Kingsley Amis was truly a Bond fan! I wonder how his Martin feels about Fleming-blond.

    I got this in January 1999 for 40p in a second hand bookshop - the Pan paperback edition. It was only later that I realised Amis was the author (2001 or so, thanks to the Internet). I see it as a fun concordance to the Fleming Bond novels.
  • 007InVT007InVT Classified
    Posts: 893
    Can someone/either provide a review of this?

    It's tough to find now, very expensive.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,810
    007InVT wrote:
    Can someone/either provide a review of this?

    It's tough to find now, very expensive.

    Mine wasn't very expensive (it was a mere Pan paperback) but that was back in January 1999 when the critical stock of the literary James Bond was much lower than it is even today.
  • 007InVT007InVT Classified
    Posts: 893
    The well has run dry on this one.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    edited December 2013 Posts: 17,810
    007InVT wrote:
    The well has run dry on this one.

    Do you mean money-wise, @007InVT?
  • 007InVT007InVT Classified
    Posts: 893
    Ha! Freudian slip.

    I meant the market for this book.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    edited December 2013 Posts: 17,810
    007InVT wrote:
    Ha! Freudian slip.

    I meant the market for this book.

    Do you think it too niche? I guess that the literary Bond is a rather niche topic, no matter how much we kid ourselves to the contrary.
  • BounineBounine
    edited December 2013 Posts: 2,598
    I picked up this book in the second hand book shop for very cheap back in the 90's. There was a time when I used to visit second hand book shops regularly.

    Never realised that Amis wrote this or if I had then I'd forgotten. A pleasant surprise.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,810
    Bounine wrote:
    I picked up this book in the second hand book shop for very cheap back in the 90's. There was a time when I used to visit second hand books shops regularly.

    Never realised that Amis wrote this or if I had then I'd forgotten. A pleasant surprise.

    Same story as me, then. Keep visiting second hand shops - they contain many hidden treasures!
  • BounineBounine
    edited December 2013 Posts: 2,598
    Yeah they do. Don't know how I ended up drifting away from them. Maybe my studies became too full on and after that I kind of stopped thinking about them.

    I remember being on a quest at the time to find second hand Fleming and Gardner Bond books. I went to stores and fairs and found some great thrillers coupled with the odd rare, or maybe I should say, less well known publication like 'The Book of Bond'.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    edited December 2013 Posts: 17,810
    Bounine wrote:
    Yeah they do. Don't know how I ended up drifting away from them. Maybe my studies became too full on and after that I kind of stopped thinking about them.

    I remember being on a quest at the time to find second hand Fleming and Gardner Bond books. I went to stores and fairs and found some great thrillers coupled with the odd rare, or maybe I should say, less well known publication like 'The Book of Bond'.

    I used to be the same - especially with John Gardner books, as I had all of the Flemings by that stage in my Bond fan career. Then I discovered Amazon and went a bit mad and ordered a lot of James Bond related books, some of them very rare indeed. But I still like a perusal through charity/second-hand shops as you really never do know what you'll find. I recently found a signed Britt Ekland biography from 1980 for 25p for instance, though I didn't know that it had been signed until I got it home and had a proper look at it. So please do re-embrace the second-hand shop, @Bounine, you never know what you'll find!
  • BounineBounine
    edited March 2014 Posts: 2,598
    DELETE
  • BounineBounine
    edited March 2014 Posts: 2,598
    Dragonpol wrote:
    Bounine wrote:
    Yeah they do. Don't know how I ended up drifting away from them. Maybe my studies became too full on and after that I kind of stopped thinking about them.

    I remember being on a quest at the time to find second hand Fleming and Gardner Bond books. I went to stores and fairs and found some great thrillers coupled with the odd rare, or maybe I should say, less well known publication like 'The Book of Bond'.

    I used to be the same - especially with John Gardner books, as I had all of the Flemings by that stage in my Bond fan career. Then I discovered Amazon and went a bit mad and ordered a lot of James Bond related books, some of them very rare indeed. But I still like a perusal through charity/second-hand shops as you really never do know what you'll find. I recently found a signed Britt Ekland biography from 1980 for 25p for instance, though I didn't know that it had been signed until I got it home and had a proper look at it. So please do re-embrace the second-hand shop, @Bounine, you never know what you'll find!

    Sounds like a good idea. I'm presently domiciled in Shanghai so I'll have to do a little more hunting in order to find an English second hand bookshop. :)
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,810
    Bounine wrote:
    Dragonpol wrote:
    Bounine wrote:
    Yeah they do. Don't know how I ended up drifting away from them. Maybe my studies became too full on and after that I kind of stopped thinking about them.

    I remember being on a quest at the time to find second hand Fleming and Gardner Bond books. I went to stores and fairs and found some great thrillers coupled with the odd rare, or maybe I should say, less well known publication like 'The Book of Bond'.

    I used to be the same - especially with John Gardner books, as I had all of the Flemings by that stage in my Bond fan career. Then I discovered Amazon and went a bit mad and ordered a lot of James Bond related books, some of them very rare indeed. But I still like a perusal through charity/second-hand shops as you really never do know what you'll find. I recently found a signed Britt Ekland biography from 1980 for 25p for instance, though I didn't know that it had been signed until I got it home and had a proper look at it. So please do re-embrace the second-hand shop, @Bounine, you never know what you'll find!

    Sounds like a good idea. I'm presently domiciled in Shanghai so I'll have to do a little more hunting in order to find an English second hand bookshop. :)

    Yes, that rings true! Happy hunting anyhow!
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