This is the Big One, 007
Welcome to the new bi-weekly newsletter from the James Bond Lexicon office
Bond BriefingĀ
Iām not sure why itās taken us so long to get around to doing this. Over the last 40 weeks, weāve been publishing a weekly newsletter with news and updates on things weāve been writing, or podcasting about, as well as some general slice-of-life stuff, yet one part of our pop-culture life has hardly been mentioned.Ā
For some reason, we were ignoring Bond, even though we post about him on social media every single day!Ā
Maybe because 007 is such a regular part of our online life and we were assuming that was all that was needed. Until we started thinking about how to share the work weāve been doing on a new project - The James Bond Chronology.Ā
So Alan put out a question asking fellow Bond fans if they would be interested if we produced a weekly newsletter collecting all our various Bond activities in one place. And enough folks raised a hand that it made us seriously consider the idea.
After pulling together a few dummy newsletters based on a weekly or a monthly schedule, we realized they were either too short or way too long. The compromise was a bi-weekly schedule. So thatās what weāre launching here and now - the aim is that every second Wednesday weāll be publishing a 007-related newsletter that will mix a round-up of recent Bond-related social media posts, along with book reviews, podcast news, and more - PLUS a first look at extracts from the in-development James Bond Chronology project.
I hope you enjoy the ride.
Alan J. Porter / Gillan J. Porter
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Bond Reads
A round-up of thoughts on Bond-related books recently read or announced.
āIan Fleming: The Complete Manā by Nicolas Shakespeare
This is the Fleming biography Iāve been waiting for. A highly readable, extensively researched examination of the extraordinary life of a complex man that places its focus firmly on its subject rather than his most famous creation.
Building and expanding on previous works, this 700-page work provides insights into not only Fleming but also shines a spotlight on the changing culture and the decline of Empire during his lifetime.
Such is the drama of Flemingās life that it takes until page 450 for him to write that memorable opening to Casino Royale, and even then 007 remains more of a background character in Flemingās personal journey.
Even if he had never created James Bond, Ian Flemingās life as journalist, intelligence officer, bibliophile, linguist, and society man would be worthy of study.Ā
AJP
Bond Chronology
An extract from our current in-progress project. - A detailed chronology of the James Bond phenomenon from creation until today, one month at a time.
January 1952.
15
Ian Fleming started to type out the first few pages of what would become the first James Bond novel, Casino Royale. He used a twenty-year-old portable Imperial typewriter and a ream of the best quality folio paper heād purchased at a shop on Madison Avenue, New York ten days previously during the trip to Goldeneye. Fleming had no notes - he simply started to type and for the next seven weeks he would work between nine and twelve. At five in the evening, he would return to his desk to read over that dayās work and then put the pages in a folder in a drawer in his desk ready to move on the next day.
Bond Round-Up
Collecting the last few weekās worth of James Bond Lexicon posts from around the socials.
Lexicon extracts
N
NEWHOUSE, BARNEY: An FBI agent who worked on the investigation into the bombing of Flight BD299 [COLDn].
NGUVU, JACK: An MI6 agent based in Accra, who helped Bond break-in to the Omar Trading Company offices and just missed being killed by a motion sensor-activated explosive [BRCcs].
"NIAGRA": A movie starring Marilyn Monroe and Joseph Cotton that was featured on a large billboard that formed one wall of the shack where the killer Krilencu made his hide-out. Krilencu's escape trap door was lined up with Monroe's mouth [FRWLn].
NICOLSON, MIKE: A British communist agent who worked for Colonel Sedova and rented a room at Hannes Oberhouser's place posing as an artist sketching the Alps. [YB5n]
NICHOLSON, NICK: A CIA agent who operated undercover at the hitman Scaramanga's hotel to try and find out more about the members of the criminal organization known as The Group [MGGn]
NICOLE: A Secret Service agent who acted as Bond's assistant in Nice during investigations into Maximilian Largo. She was killed by Fatima Blush [NSNAm].
NICOLETTI, TONI: An FBI agent who worked undercover with the Tempesta's as their computer expert. She worked with Bond to bring him in to the villa Tempesta and later blew her own cover to help him escape [COLDn].
NIGHTINGALE FLOOR: A floor composed of highly polished lightly sprung floorboards designed so that the flooring nails rub together and make a chirping sound when the floor was walked on [YOLTn].
NIKITIN, COLONEL-GENERAL: The Head of SMERSH who had a poorly concealed obsession with Major Anya Amasova [SWLMmn].
Covers
Photoplay Magazine
Full galleries of all the Bond covers posted online to date can be found on our James Bond Lexicon Ā Instagram and TumblrĀ Ā accounts.
Bond Blatherings
Over at the On Her Majestyās Secret Podcast network on the latest Bond Music: Six of the Best show Jarrod Alberich and Alan reviewed the Phoenix Rising 007 digital concept album. And concluded the show with a special announcement. - Check it out HERE
Bond for SaleĀ
Looking for a few James Bond book ideas for gifts this holiday season? - How about checking out our dedicated 007 on-line bookstore?
Of course, there is always our own James Bond Lexicon which you can order from Bookshop.org just by clicking the cover image below.
If you would like a personalized, signed copy we still have a few copies of both the James Bond Lexicon and James Bond: The History of the Illustrated 007 in stock. Just drop us a note at alan@jamesbondlexicon.comĀ and we can get that fixed for you. (Sorry USA customers only at the moment due to shipping costs)
Where to Find Us Online
For more information on what else we have going on with writing, podcasting, and general slice-of-life stuff, check out our regular FREE weekly CANāT SEE THE FOREST newsletterĀ -
We also have ourĀ monthly Before They Were Beatles newsletter featuring articles and news related to all things early BeatlesĀ
Forest Comics & Books -Ā Our eBay store, which usually has a few Bond items for sale along with all sorts of other pop-culture-related goodies.
You can now find links to all the places you can find Alan online, websites, newsletters, social media, and more in a single LINKS page on Alanās personal website.
We intend that this newsletter will always be a FREE subscription, but if you enjoy what you read here, or any of the other places I hang out online, and feel you would like to contribute, you can now leave a tip over by clicking on the Ko-Fi banner below.
As always, thanks for joining me this week. If you know someone else who might enjoy the contents of this newsletter please feel free to share by clicking the button below.
See you next time
Alan J. Porter
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