James Bond: The Authorised Biography

Dan Same

Forgive me if this has already been mentioned, but I recently came across in my Uni shop James Bond: The Authorised Biography by John Pearson. What do people know about it?

Napoleon Plural

Napoleon Plural flicked through the index card in his mind...

"Well, sir," he said. "It was written in 1968 or thereabouts.." M's pipe dipped a fraction disapprovingly. "By the same chap who wrote the biography of Ian Fleming a few years earlier. Pearson writes it in much the same way, filling in the details of events just alluded to in the novels - acquiring his double o number, for instance. It takes some convincing to believe that Bond was a real person, and that he and Fleming knew each other, and that at some juncture Fleming was encouraged to fictionalise the events in his life, as if to persuade the KGB that Bond was in fact, fictional.

"It's a readable account, and captures the sleazy and somewhat depressing vibe of the literary Bond almost entirely absent from the novels from John Gardner onwards.
"It trips up however, in that the brief details expanded on in the book work better than trying to explain away the plots of the actual novels. I'm not sure that it's implied that this Bond ever met Tracey or anything, or tackled Hugo Drax. It's as though Pearson forgets all that when writing the book, or skirts around it. Or perhaps he can't write about that for copywrite reasons.

"And that's it, sir," NP ended lamely.

Dan Same

Napoleon Plural wrote:

Napoleon Plural flicked through the index card in his mind...

Thank you sir. To be frank, it didn't look particularly great to me, so your advice is appreciated and will be heeded. {[]

Loeffelholz

I actually enjoyed it quite a lot, and highly recommend it. Go figure.

As always, however, you're better advised to 'go to the source'---and by that, of course, I mean Fleming---from CR through the Octopussy/Living Daylights collection :007)

Sir Miles

Loeffelholz wrote:

I actually enjoyed it quite a lot, and highly recommend it. Go figure.

I thought it a pretty decent read too.

zencat

Oh, I think James Bond The Authorized Bio is a terrific read. A very unappreciated continuation novel.

scaramanga1

I too have a copy of this book -and enjoyed it. It is a bit of a curious one -but enjoyable nonetheless - and is indeed underrated.

Hardyboy

Count me in as one of the book's admirers. It actually isn't meant to be part of Fleming's series--it's about the "real Bond" whose adventures were somewhat embellished by Fleming. Part of the fun is in having the Bond character roll his eyes over the novels' titles and some of the details and say that things didn't quite happen the way Fleming said they did.

Loeffelholz

I love the bit where Pearson writes about Fleming and Bond laughing about the 'hairs wedged in dresser drawers,' etc., as if they were having a laugh at all of us. Very slyly done.

Barbel

It's recently been reprinted in hardback, which perhaps accounts for it's re-emergence in book shops etc.

I liked it, having bought and read it at at a time (actually 1973, NP!) when we were starved of literary Bond.

Napoleon Plural

Oh I didn't mean to sound negative about it, I quite enjoyed it, it's head and shoulders above most literary Bond efforts a la Benson and Gardner and so on.

1973? Ah well.

Asp9mm

It's a fantastic book. I'm a die-hard Fleming fan, and this book ticked all the boxes and then some.

7289

It's been a long time since I have read my copy, but remember it fondly - a good summer read.

But I would always recommend Fleming first!!!

Loeffelholz

Seeing this thread yesterday reminded me of my paperback copy of this book, which was a mid-'80s reprint I cannot locate. I just scored a '73 hardcover edition on ebay for a very reasonable price...

Thanks for reminding me about this one, Dan! Re-reading this will give me a 'Bond fix' until DMC comes out in May B-)

Dan Same

Thanks guys. As it happens, the book is no longer in the bookstore ) although it might be available in the library.

Loeffelholz wrote:

Thanks for reminding me about this one, Dan! Re-reading this will give me a 'Bond fix' until DMC comes out in May B-)

That's wonderful. I'm glad to be of service. -{

DEFIANT 74205

Dan Same wrote:

Thanks guys. As it happens, the book is no longer in the bookstore ) although it might be available in the library.

Shame. If I were you, I probably would've bought the book anyway and tried to make up my own mind about it. Then decide whether to keep it or put it on ebay.

I've read the book, and I've found it an interesting read, although I'm just not sure how official it is, despite the title saying "Authorised Biography"...

Barbel

It was official enough- Glidrose (as it then was) held the copyright along with the author.

Loeffelholz

Just got my hardback copy in the mail. It's a former library copy from South Hadley, Massachussetts

For everyone's entertainment, here is the dust jacket writeup:

JAMES BOND - The Authorized Biography of 007 by JOHN PEARSON

"'It was a strong face, certainly---the eyes pale grey and very cold, the mouth hard, the dark hair---grey-streaked now---still fell in the authentic comma over the forehead. But there was something Fleming's descriptions of James Bond had not prepared me for." This is how John Pearson reacted to his first encounter with the real James Bond.

'Five years ago, Pearson wrote the best-selling authorized biography of Ian Fleming. At the time, he assumed, like most of the many million James Bond fans around the world, that Bond was no more than a product of Fleming's highly-charged imagination. But then he began to have his doubts---doubts which soon were reaching such a pitch that the British secret service tried to warn him off the scent. Pearson finally became convinced that James Bond was not only real but was still alive.

'Thanks to a change of policy within the secret service (for reasons which Pearson carefully explains), he was eventually invited to write the authorized biography of the world's most famous secret agent, the official life of James Bond. M, the steely-eyed and frosty-visaged head of "Universal Export" (the code name of the secret service), gave his permission and instructed 007 to cooperate.

'James Bond was in Bermuda, recuperating from an unpleasant illness. Pearson begain meeting with 007, and slowly, but with total candor and recall, Bond began to tell the story of his life: the Bonds of Glencoe; the night he lost his wallet and his virginity in Paris---and found his first love; his first assignment---to save the bank at Monte Carlo; Bond's war; his duel with the SS; his women, scandals, cars, tastes; Bond at home; Bond in the most amazing series of adventures, situations and incidents only hinted at in Ian Fleming's books; and the true events behind Fleming's best-selling novels, such as Casino Royale, From Russia, With Love, and Goldfinger. It's all here at last---the real 007 and his incredible missions, told by the man who lived them.'"