Nobody Does it Better

December 1, 2019
An oral history of six decades' worth of entries in the James Bond film franchise. For some fans, James Bond is Sean Connery, who turns up here at the last moment to mutter, "Of course the films will go on, but who'll play me, I just don't know and can't guess." Others are perfectly happy with the work of Daniel Craig, who lacks Connery's twinkle but has nicely captured the character's essential amorality: He's perfectly capable of mayhem and extreme violence without pausing for a breath (and doesn't really need to, the Bond of today having lightened up on the cigarettes and booze of his 1960s iteration). Besides, he looks good in a tux. Altman, the co-author, with Gross, of like-minded oral histories of Star Trek, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Battlestar Galactica, talks to figures before and behind the camera to chronicle the changing face of Bond and the Bond films--including the "Bond girls," some lethal and some merely eye candy. The compilers don't always hit the mark: It does little perceptible good to know that Robert Rodriguez was introduced to Bond through The Spy Who Loved Me or to repeat the well-worn truism that Ian Fleming named his spy after the author of a book about Caribbean birds. But there's plenty of meat on the bones, too, such as the authors' exploration of the pioneering work of Bond's early producers in product placements, with Dr. No sporting more than 20 of them as "a result of James Bond and Sean Connery being fairly unknown entities" at the time. Pierce Brosnan, George Lazenby, and Timothy Dalton weren't much better known. However, along with Roger Moore and Craig, all, note the authors in a rare criticism, have done their part to play Bond as Fleming wrote him, "a sexist, misogynist dinosaur who is always ready to do what's right for England and the world." Die-hard Bond fans will delight in this compendium.

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January 24, 2020

Following comprehensive oral histories of Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Angel, pop culture mavens Gross and Altman geek out over the James Bond franchise. They rely on the same winning formula as in previous books: a chronologically arranged volume of groaning heft, with seemingly endless stories, gossip, and revelatory bon mots from actors, directors, writers, and fans. Providing necessary context, the authors ably connect these disparate voices. Altman writes that he and Gross set out not only to discuss the production of these movies but also to explain why we've enjoyed a 50-plus-year cultural infatuation with the films. A vast chorus of voices wax both poetic and raunchy about the alternately suave and stone-cold spy, his sexual prowess, the Bond girls, the megalomaniac villains, the gadgets, and, oh yes, that obligatory license to kill. John Landis, Robert Rodriguez, and other directors provide insight into the influence of Bond on their own work. VERDICT The title says it best--nobody does it better. Lovers of Agent 007 will devour this one; hopefully, future oral histories from this team are in the works.--Barry X. Miller, Austin P.L., TX

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