The James Bond Bedside Companion

Non-fiction book by Raymond Benson
The James Bond Bedside Companion book cover (first edition)

The James Bond Bedside Companion is a non-fiction book written by the official James Bond author, Raymond Benson, first published in 1984.[1] It was later updated in 1988.[citation needed] The book was nominated for the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Biographical/Critical Work in 1985.[2]

Content

The book, split in five parts, includes information on "The James Bond Phenomenon", a biography on Ian Fleming the creator of James Bond, a biography on the fictional character James Bond, information on the novels, and finally information on the films.

Benson goes into considerable detail for each novel including continuation novels by authors Kingsley Amis (writing as Robert Markham) and John Gardner. Likewise it details information on every film from the first official Bond film Dr. No, to the then-recent Bond film Octopussy. Additionally, it discusses the two unofficial adaptations of Casino Royale and the remake of Thunderball called Never Say Never Again. The 1988 publication included information on A View to a Kill (1985) and The Living Daylights (1987) as well as the books written by John Gardner since the 1984 edition. In 2001 the now defunct PublishingOnline company created a print-on-demand "facsimile" edition from scans of the 1988 edition (the production plates were long lost). This edition suffered from poor scanning and is now out of print along with earlier 1980s editions.

As of January 2012, Crossroad Press has re-published the 1988 edition, with a new Foreword by Benson, as an e-book for Kindle, Nook, and other e-readers. Plans are underway by Crossroad to make the book available as a downloadable audiobook and a new print edition.

Author Raymond Benson also wrote modules for the James Bond 007 role playing game and, from 1997 to 2002, was commissioned by Ian Fleming Publications to succeed John Gardner as the author of the James Bond novels series.

See also

References

  1. ^ Ciabattari, Jane (7 August 2014). "Ranking the James Bond authors after Ian Fleming". BBC. Retrieved 2024-02-19.
  2. ^ "Category List – Best Critical / Biographical Work | Edgar® Awards Info & Database". edgarawards.com. Retrieved 2024-02-19.
  • v
  • t
  • e
James Bond in literature
James Bond
James Bond
series
Ian Fleming
  • Casino Royale (1953)
  • Live and Let Die (1954)
  • Moonraker (1955)
  • Diamonds Are Forever (1956)
  • From Russia, with Love (1957)
  • Dr. No (1958)
  • Goldfinger (1959)
  • For Your Eyes Only (1960)
  • Thunderball (1961)
  • The Spy Who Loved Me (1962)
  • On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1963)
  • You Only Live Twice (1964)
  • The Man with the Golden Gun (1965)
  • Octopussy and The Living Daylights (1966)
Kingsley Amis
John Gardner
Raymond Benson
Sebastian Faulks
  • Devil May Care (2008)
Jeffery Deaver
  • Carte Blanche (2011)
William Boyd
  • Solo (2013)
Anthony Horowitz
  • Trigger Mortis (2015)
  • Forever and a Day (2018)
  • With a Mind to Kill (2022)
Charlie Higson
  • On His Majesty's Secret Service (2023)
Novelizations
Christopher Wood
John Gardner
  • Licence to Kill (1989)
  • GoldenEye (1995)
Raymond Benson
  • Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
  • The World Is Not Enough (1999)
  • Die Another Day (2002)
Spin-off
works
R. D. Mascott
John Pearson
  • James Bond: The Authorized Biography of 007 (1973)
Young Bond series
Charlie Higson
Steve Cole
  • Shoot to Kill (2014)
  • Heads You Die (2016)
  • Strike Lightning (2016)
  • Red Nemesis (2017)
The Moneypenny Diaries
Samantha Weinberg
  • Guardian Angel (2005)
  • Secret Servant (2006)
  • Final Fling (2008)
Unofficial
works
Unpublished
worksRelated
works
Related


Stub icon 1 Stub icon 2

This article about a non-fiction book on film is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

  • v
  • t
  • e