Toadstool by I*n Fl*m*ng
onemonk909
Posts: 65MI6 Agent
Probably the "rarest" (or at least most obscure) Bond thing I have is this short story, Toadstool, published in a 1967 Playboy parody magazine ("Pl*yb*y") published by the Harvard Lampoon. It's by the same author(s) who wrote Alligator as "I*n Fl*m*ng" in 1963 -- a parodic pastiche which both Amis and Snelling had good words to say about. I think Silhouette Man also reviewed it and enjoyed it. I have that one as an ebook and read most of it -- I liked it, but it made me want to go back and read the real thing, so I dropped it and started in on Casino Royale.
I did a forum search on Toadstool but couldn't find anything about it. I've also looked around online and haven't found much about it, though I have come across places that put forward the theory that the story doesn't exist and/or was never published. I'll disprove that theory, as I have the mag and the story definitely exists, however I've not read it yet. I flipped through it and it takes place after TMWTGG; B*nd (as he is known) has retired from the serivce and lives in a monastery or something, and is called out of retirement to take on the titular villain. It doesn't seem to be as much of a Bond pastiche as Alligator, though that's just the impression I get from flipping through and scanning some lines. One of these days I'll get around to reading it and let you all know -- that is, unless anyone here has read it and can share their thoughts.
I did a forum search on Toadstool but couldn't find anything about it. I've also looked around online and haven't found much about it, though I have come across places that put forward the theory that the story doesn't exist and/or was never published. I'll disprove that theory, as I have the mag and the story definitely exists, however I've not read it yet. I flipped through it and it takes place after TMWTGG; B*nd (as he is known) has retired from the serivce and lives in a monastery or something, and is called out of retirement to take on the titular villain. It doesn't seem to be as much of a Bond pastiche as Alligator, though that's just the impression I get from flipping through and scanning some lines. One of these days I'll get around to reading it and let you all know -- that is, unless anyone here has read it and can share their thoughts.
Comments
It was definitely fun to read.
But I think to remember that Alligator was much better.
So maybe I have to read it again some time.
But at the moment I am working my way through the Gardner books.
I do have the Alligator book, it's a saddle-stitched imitation paperback, replicating the artwork of the vintage Signets, and I scooped up the only copy I've ever seen.
I know those Harvard Lampoon guys did a bunch of nationally distributed one-shot magazine parodies, before their Bored of the Rings was successful enough to start the monthly National Lampoon.
I think I've seen a reprint of their Playboy parody, in a larger book also compiling the other parodies, but I was too stoopid to pick it up when I saw it and that was years ago now.
Makes sense a Playboy parody would include an additional Fleming parody, as the real magazine had serialised some of his stories ... a bit of crossover audience I imagine.
There were some James Bond parodies over the years in the National Lampoon magazine. I cannot repeat the titles in a family friendly forum. Sorry, kids!