Saturday 19 January 2013

Non-Fiction

Bond on Bond by Roger Moore (with Gareth Owen)
Introduction
Bond on Beginnings
Bond on Villains
Bond on Girls
Bond on Gadgets
Bond on Cars


(or, pretty much exactly half the book)

The suavest Bond of them all, Sir Roger Moore, is our inimitable guide (well, ghostwritten by Gareth Owen) for this lavishly illustrated whistle-stop overview of the entire Bond film series, occasioned by its 50th anniversary last year.

Organised thematically-then-chronologically (rather than the usual guidebook style of chronologically-then-thematically), Moore shares his thoughts on (most of) the series' villains, girls, gadgets, and more. Naturally the strongest memories come from the seven films he starred in, and it is a quick and idiosyncratic tour -- while some topics are afforded lengthy recollections, others get a cursory line or two, while still others get no mention at all.

But it doesn't aim to be a thorough, all-inclusive guide -- it's not written by a fan or an academic who's devoted decades to cataloguing the films' minutiae -- these are Moore's personal memories and opinions; like having a genial chat with the man himself, I shouldn't wonder. For his anecdotes and many of the pictures, that makes it an essential read for fans.

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