The James Bond Phenomenon: A Critical Reader

by Christoph Lindner (Editor)

Sean Connery's tuxedo, Ursula Andress' bikini, Oddjob's bowler hat, and Q's gadgets are just a few defining features of the 007 world examined in The James Bond Phenomenon . Drawn from the fields of literary, film, music, and cultural studies, the essays in this collection range from revitalized readings of Ian Fleming's original spy novels to the analysis of Pussy Galore's lesbianism, Miss Moneypenny's filmic feminism, and Pierce Brosnan's techno-fetishism. Together, the essays not only consider the James Bond novels and films in relation to their historical, political, and social contexts from the cold-war period forward, but also examine the classic Bond canon from an array of theoretical perspectives.

272 pages, Hardcover

First published December 19, 2003

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've had this book of James Bond essays for almost ten years, and I'm glad I've finally been able to read it. It was a good entrance into critical readings on the Bond franchise, in both book and film form, and how the Bond series is informed by a variety of external forces, including global politics, race, gender, sex, and the rise of Playboy magazine. Not every essay was a winner (boy, I did not care for the Eco essay at all!) and you probably shouldn't read this if you don't want to know how entire films play out before watching them, but it's a solid collection and has me wanting to read similar essays on the Daniel Craig era past Casino Royale, which is where this book stops at in its coverage.

[Druss · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent read for the fans of the Bond movies.

[Jay D · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is somewhat interesting, but focuses, as modern academia incessantly does, on trivial, stupid issues, while avoiding most of what is interesting in Bond, such as the esoteric aspects. Instead, the reader is subject to boring essays on Bond and capitalism, advertising, blah, yawn. Meanwhile, Fleming is writing about all kinds of real events.