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A review by ianbanks
The Man with the Golden Typewriter: Ian Fleming's James Bond Letters by Ian Fleming, Fergus Fleming
5.0
Possibly the best book I've read in ages, which is ironic as it is a collection of letters. But it deals with the creation of a series of books that I spent roughly 25 years away from before falling in love with them all over again.
The letters are mostly from Fleming as he talks with his publishers, beta readers, family members, friends, and - quite charmingly - some fans. It shows the thought process behind Bond's adventures and his character. As a source book it is quite unique, often laugh-out-loud funny and very boring for spouses who have their partners reading large chunk of it to them because they just have to share some nugget of information with them.
My biggest takeaway from it is that it would be an interesting thought experiment to imagine what the British publishing scene would be like without the invention of Bond: he may have saved the world several times in his adventures but it would be a different place culturally if he had not existed at all.
The letters are mostly from Fleming as he talks with his publishers, beta readers, family members, friends, and - quite charmingly - some fans. It shows the thought process behind Bond's adventures and his character. As a source book it is quite unique, often laugh-out-loud funny and very boring for spouses who have their partners reading large chunk of it to them because they just have to share some nugget of information with them.
My biggest takeaway from it is that it would be an interesting thought experiment to imagine what the British publishing scene would be like without the invention of Bond: he may have saved the world several times in his adventures but it would be a different place culturally if he had not existed at all.