The James Bond Dossier (1965)
The second significant critical analysis of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels. This book, along with O. F. Snelling's Double 0 Seven James Bond: A Report, are required reading for those interested in the James Bond novels.
History will show that James Bond, the fabulous 007, is not merely the most popular hero of mid-century fiction. He is an outright Cultural Phenomenon. And yet this subjugator of Goldfinger and Dr. No, this ravisher of Pussy Galore and all the other stunning Bond-women, is a hero without honor in his own time. For Bond's popularity has made him suspect in the minds of certain snobs and critics. Now to his rescue comes that puissant defender of human rights, the irreverent author of Lucky Jim, the notorious Kingsley Amis.
In this dossier, Amis probes the secret of the secret agent's dazzling success. Perusing all thirteen thrillers from Casino Royale to The Man with the Golden Gun, he sets out to prove that Bond is a hero cut to the measure of the twentieth century. Amis sees Bond as a fantasy figure solidly based in realism: part Don Juan, part Don Quixote, part everyman (or what everyman would like to be). He points out that Bond must undergo rigid training to accomplish his superhuman feats. Before his Caribbean exploits, he puts himself through rigorous swimming and running courses; before he clobbers Hugo Drax at bridge, he spends half an hour working through the drills given in a standard book on cheating. Bond is always up against someone better than himself, but he is never afraid to take anyone on.
While analyzing his hero's very human characteristics, Amis takes time out to swing gleefully at the critics of the late Ian Fleming, whom he labels “old maids of both sexes.” Quoting their outraged protests, he beats them with their own stick, with sly Freudian hints as to why they consider Bond lecherous, sadistic, snobbish, etc., etc.
The real Bond, as Amis sees him, is just the opposite of what the critics proclaim. In his view, the secret agent with the dark eyes and “rather cruel mouth” is the prototype of the modern Hero — a champion of Glory, Guts, Honor, and Romance… old-fashioned virtues that have been sold out in the dreary world of the psychoanalyst, the private eye, and the prig.
Author
Publication History
- London: Jonathan Cape. Uncorrected proof.
- London: Jonathan Cape. Hardcover.
- New York: New American Library. Hardcover.
Reviews
- Phoebe Adams, Potpourri, Atlantic Monthly, July 1965, p. 144.
- Brian J. Murray, “Non-Fiction,” Best Sellers, 15 July 1965, p. 175.
- Booklist, 15 July 1965, p. 1048.
- Anne Britton, Books and Bookmen, July 1965, pp. 10–11.
- Elizabeth Stevens, “Just What I Wanted!,” Books and Bookmen, December 1965, pp. 11–12. Book reviews of The James Bond Dossier by Kingsley Amis and The Book of Bond, or Every Man His Own 007 by Lt.-Col. William “Bill” Tanner [Kingsley Amis].
- Gavin White, “Bonded Stock,” Canadian Forum, November 1965, pp. 187–188.
- Choice, June 1965, p. 207.
- Warren Miller, “Books,” Commonweal, 6 August 1965, pp. 569–570.
- Malcolm Muggeridge, Critic, October/November 1965, p. 64.
- Stuart Hall, “A Question of Tone,” Guardian (UK), 4 June 1965, p. 9.
- Stuart Hall, “The World of 007,” Guardian (UK) Weekly, 10 June 1965, p. 11. Book review of The James Bond Dossier by Kingsley Amis. (Reprinted from the Guardian.)
- Non-Fiction, Kirkus Reviews, 15 May 1965, p. 513.
- M. K. Grant, “New Books Appraised: Literature,” Library Journal, 15 June 1965, p. 2855.
- William Trevor, “Comic-Strip Wonder,” Listener, 27 May 1965, p. 788.
- Gavin Ewart, “Bondage,” London Magazine, June 1965, pp. 92–96.
- Robert B. Semple Jr., “It's That Superman Again — Public Spy No. 1,” National Observer, 27 December 1965, p. 17. Book reviews of The James Bond Dossier by Kingsley Amis and The Book of Bond, or Every Man His Own 007 by Lt.-Col. William “Bill” Tanner [Kingsley Amis].
- Alex Campbell, “Thrillers for Eggheads,” New Republic, 3 July 1965, pp. 25–26.
- Bernard Bergonzi, “Beautiful Firm Beast,” New Society, 27 May 1965, pp. 28–29.
- Richard Mayne, “Gentlemen Prefer Bonds,” New Statesman, 4 June 1965, pp. 883–884.
- Alan Pryce-Jones, “An Admirer of James Bond,” New York Herald Tribune, 29 June 1965, p. 21.
- Gene Smith, “Goldigger,” New York Herald Tribune, 29 August 1965, Book Week, pp. 1, 17.
- D. A. N. Jones, “Bondage,” New York Review of Books, 14 October 1965, pp. 18, 27–28.
- Charles Poore, “A Lively Inquiry into James Bondolatry,” Books of the Times, New York Times, 29 June 1965, p. 33.
- Al Hine, “What Have They Done to Our Hero?,” New York Times Book Review, 25 July 1965, p. 4.
- Malcolm Muggeridge, “James Bond: Malcolm Muggeridge Examines the Myth and Its Master,” Observer, 30 May 1965, p. 21.
- Publishers Weekly, 30 May 1966, p. 92.
- Peter Dickinson, “007,” Punch, 14 July 1965, p. 67.
- Saturday Night, 1965, p. 37.
- Sergeant Cuff, “Criminal Record,” Saturday Review, 26 June 1965, p. 34.
- Simon Raven, “Amis and the Eggheads,” Spectator, 28 May 1965, pp. 694–695.
- Alaric Jacob, “From Pop to Pop,” Sunday Times, 30 May 1965, p. 26.
- Anthony Lejeune, “Amis on Bond,” Tablet, 29 May 1965, pp. 607–608.
- “An Englishman's Bond,” Times Literary Supplement, 27 May 1965, p. 408.
- “Notes on Current Books,” Virginia Quarterly Review, Fall 1965, p. cxlviii.