Obscure Bond related books that are easily missed!

saunderssaunders Living in a world of avarice and deceit
edited September 2013 in Literary 007 Posts: 987
Thought I'd start a discussion regarding obscure Bond related works that could easily of passed me by and may be of interest to the complete-ists among you.

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The Two Natures volume two by Cyril Connolly contains 'Bond strikes camp' the only non Fleming Bond story to of been both read and endorsed by Ian Fleming himself, the author, a friend of Fleming's wife Ann wrote the parody for a joke and Ian appreciated the effort so much he had a leather bound copy made for his own library.
It's an amusing and well written effort, though the very idea of M trying to seduce 007 may not be to everyone's taste, but for any fan of the books this volume is a great way to acquire a long out of print Bond story.

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Everyone knows about the three Kingsley Amis Bond works Colonel Sun, The James Bond Dossier and The Book of Bond, but a fourth book was published 'What Became of Jane Austin and other stories' that contains a whole chapter on why and how he wrote Colonel Sun and the critical reaction to it, it's not a long chapter and much has been reproduced elsewhere but for a couple of pounds on EBay it's probably worth getting as an oddity.

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If you enjoyed Devil May Care you might be interested in this collection of parodies by the same author, including one on Fleming that involves a short skit on James Bond going to a supermarket and the plethora of brand namedropping this incurs, it's only a meagre 2 pages but as a bonus there is also one on Kingsley Amis which is hilarious.

Anyone else know of any other hidden Bond treasures?

Comments

  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    Posts: 9,117
    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Your-Deal-Mr-Bond-Phillip-King/dp/0713482478

    There is this which is a book about bridge. It features a short story where Bond attends the world bridge championships and partners Zia Mahmood (which, if you know your bridge, will mean something to syou) or something like that. If I recall right I think its done as a parody.
    I do own a copy somewhere but cant remember much else about it so it cant have been that good.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,281
    The Cyril Connolly short story "Bond Strikes Camp" first appeared in Previous Convictions collection (after it's original appearance in the London Magazine). I'm also aware of those others you mentioned there, @saunders.
  • ggl007ggl007 www.archivo007.com Spain, España
    Posts: 2,541
    Quite interesting, @saunders.

    Andrei Guliashki´s Avakum Zajov vs. 07 is a novel with Zajov, Bulgarian agent, battling a decadent agent with no name but with a number: 07. Published in 1967, the novel tries to confront the intelligence of the communist man and the brutality of the imperialism... Yes, I miss the Cold War...
  • saunderssaunders Living in a world of avarice and deceit
    Posts: 987
    ggl007 wrote:
    Quite interesting, @saunders.

    Andrei Guliashki´s Avakum Zajov vs. 07 is a novel with Zajov, Bulgarian agent, battling a decadent agent with no name but with a number: 07. Published in 1967, the novel tries to confront the intelligence of the communist man and the brutality of the imperialism... Yes, I miss the Cold War...

    I've heard about this book but never been fortunate enough to find an English translation, am I right in thinking Andrei Guliashki did three Avakum Zajov books?

  • ggl007ggl007 www.archivo007.com Spain, España
    Posts: 2,541
    saunders wrote:
    I've heard about this book but never been fortunate enough to find an English translation, am I right in thinking Andrei Guliashki did three Avakum Zajov books?
    I think there are ten, no less!. In Bulgaria they had quite a success. The second one had a movie version: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0298507/
    and in 1980, there was a TV series.
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    Posts: 12,480
    This is interesting; I'd probably like very much to read some of these. Thanks for sharing!
  • saunderssaunders Living in a world of avarice and deceit
    Posts: 987
    Dragonpol wrote:
    The Cyril Connolly short story "Bond Strikes Camp" first appeared in Previous Convictions collection (after it's original appearance in the London Magazine). I'm also aware of those others you mentioned there, @saunders.

    I had no doubt you @Dragonpol and many, many others of our very well informed members would know all about these books, my intention for this discussion was more aimed at the newer, possibly less knowledgeable members of our community, personally I would very much of welcomed this sort of information in my early days of Bond collecting, I hope it is of some use.

    With that in mind do you know what connects all these books?

    [img][/img]DSCF2624_zps0bc62cdd.jpg

    The answer is these works of fiction all contain extended cameos from James Bond's creator Ian Fleming, they vary in quality but make rather nice 'oddities' to any Fleming enthusiasts collection.

    [imgDSCF2625_zps40b612f0.jpg][/img]

    I would recommend this collection of three books simply because the fictional Ian Fleming is the main character and this makes for a slightly different take on the Fleming/Bond world.









  • 007InVT007InVT Classified
    Posts: 893
    The Irregulars is marvelous. All about Roald Dahl and the other 'Baker Street Irregulars' including Ivar Bryce, Ernest Cuneo working for Bill Stephenson.

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    Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring in Wartime Washington - By Jennet Conant
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    edited December 2013 Posts: 18,281
    I concur, @007InVT. I bought that great little book a number of years ago. I'm very interested in Roald Dahl's adult short stories and his links with Ian Fleming and James Bond.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    edited October 2013 Posts: 18,281
    Sorry. Double post. I'll leave this one for the sweeper!
  • saunderssaunders Living in a world of avarice and deceit
    Posts: 987
    This one completely passed me by @007InVT, sounds like a really interesting read, thanks for posting.
  • timdalton007timdalton007 North Alabama
    Posts: 155
    I read The Irregulars about 18 months ago and liked it. I thought it went off on somewhat unrelated tangents a bit too much but was quite fascinating at times.

    timdalton007
  • 007InVT007InVT Classified
    Posts: 893
    Dragonpol wrote:
    I concur, @007InVT. I bought that great little book a number of years ago. I'm very interested in Roald Dahl's adult short stories and his links with

    Yes, he has one called 'Switch Bitch' amongst others.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    edited August 2018 Posts: 18,281
    007InVT wrote:
    Dragonpol wrote:
    I concur, @007InVT. I bought that great little book a number of years ago. I'm very interested in Roald Dahl's adult short stories and his links with

    Yes, he has one called 'Switch Bitch' amongst others.

    I've only just finished that post you quoted there! Must have been a computer glitch! Yes, I have all of Roald Dahl's short stories. I'm also a big fan of the Tales of The Unexpected TV series. I own all of the episodes on DVD, in fact.
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