Monday 25 June 2018

BUY ANOTHER BOOK. (SOUNDS ALMOST LIKE A BOND MOVIE)...

Covers copyright relevant owner

Back at the end of 1976 or the beginning of '77, I bought the above book in a shop called GRANT'S in Glasgow.  I'd first discovered it in my local library a year or two before, and took it out on loan to read, which I did in a 'sunken' garden in my local town centre.  Or, to be more precise, I started the book there, and the sunken garden was (and still is) located around midway between the centre and the 'Old Village' quarter of the town.  (Details are important, don't you think?)

Anyway, a little while after acquiring my own copy, I damaged the dustjacket and felt compelled to dispose of it as its imperfection offended my aesthetic sensibilities.  I should perhaps explain that when I was younger, if a comic, record, or book cover fell victim to the slightest bend or crease, I immediately dispensed with it and bought a new one.  For example, while playing my The MAN With The GOLDEN GUN soundtrack LP one day, a visiting aunt clumsily picked up the cover to look at before I could stop her, inflicting a crease that spread out like a spiderweb.  I said nothing, but despaired inwardly.  I bought another of the same LP the next day and passed the compromised copy onto a friend.

I was ruthless, but in regard to the book cover, I regretted my hasty action and, on January 16th 1977, contacted the publisher (TANTIVY PRESS) to enquire about the possibility of buying a new copy.  (I still had my original book, but I wanted a pristine one, intact with dustjacket.)  They replied in the affirmative (see letter #1) on the 21st, but it was a whole seven years before I decided to take advantage of the opportunity, and when I enquired again (on January 3rd 1984) to see if the book was still available, I was surprised to find mention in the publisher's response (see letter #2) of a revised and expanded edition which wasn't released in Britain.  Curiously, they seemed to think I'd sent for that edition, but I hadn't known about it until they informed me of its existence in their letter.  I sent off the required amount for the replacement 1st edition and asked for further details about the 2nd, but when the padded bag containing my book arrived, it didn't contain a reply to my query.



Eventually, I photocopied the dustjacket and made a new one for my coverless book, which it wore for many years until I recently obtained a spare original dustjacket from yet another copy of the same book someone gave me.  I'd had the cover I made for so long that I was loath to part with it, so I made yet another cover, put it on the third book, and gave it to a pal.

And now I have a confession to make: I didn't really need to impart all that tedious detail to you, but conciseness has never been my strong point and I always feel compelled to tell the complete story, not just the relevant highlights.  It refreshes my own memory of events and allows me to relive them to some degree, though I appreciate it must be rather boring for the rest of you Crivvies.  However, you'll now be glad to know (if you haven't already jumped over to someone else's blog) that we're now coming to the point.

Recently, on eBay, an American seller was offering the revised and expanded 2nd edition of the book for a little more than I wanted to pay.  The 1st edition of the book from 1972 (not 1971, despite what letter #2 says) covered Dr. NO to DIAMONDS Are FOREVER, whereas the 2nd edition from 1981 included LIVE & LET DIE up to MOONRAKER - just four extra chapters.  I sat on it for several weeks to see if it would sell, and if not, whether it might be reduced in price a bit.  In the end, I made the seller an offer, and he made a counter offer which I accepted, so the book will be winging its way to me very shortly.  "Well, goody for you," you're probably thinking, "but why bother us with the news?"


Here's why.  I simply find it astounding that, 34 years after first learning of the 2nd edition, I'm now, finally, going to be the proud owner of it.  Of course, that 34 years feels like no more than four or five to me, but that's a conversation we've had before on this blog (and will doubtless have again, but not right now).  So rejoice with and for me, as a long-wished-for item finally joins me at Castel Crivens to take its place beside its predecessor.  It's just a shame that the author, JOHN BROSNAN, is no longer with us, as I'd have loved to see a 3rd edition covering all the BOND movies right up to DIE ANOTHER DAY, before the series was needlessly rebooted and internal continuity was thrown to the dogs.

If anybody's interested, there's another copy (typical - you wait 34 years, and then two come along at once) of the 2nd edition on eBay at the moment.  The asking price? £75.

Don't all rush at once now, d'you hear?

******

Footnote: Many years later, although I never met nor spoke with John, I lettered a comic strip series he wrote for 2000 A.D.  I meant to ask then-editor ALAN McKENZIE to let John know that I'd enjoyed his book, but can no longer recall if I ever actually got around to it or not.  (I like to think that I did.)

15 comments:

tom said...

I think the most interesting thing about that story is that you would immediately replace a creased cover, how did you have the money to do that? As a kid saving my allowance to buy even 1 copy of something was a struggle. having enough money to buy a replacement? Out of the question.

Kid said...

Very simple - I was working full-time and therefore earning a wage - and comics and LPs were as cheap as chips back in the '70s. Never having been a smoker or drinker, my money went further too.

AirPiratePress said...

I honestly can't remember either whether you'd asked me to pass on your best regards to Broz. The Night Zero stories that appeared in 2000AD were originally written as a screenplay by John. For reasons I can't recall, the film wasn't produced, so John recycled the tale for Tharg. John was also an accomplished novelist ... his Skylords series was enormous fun, but I have a special affection for his (self-described) trash novels he wrote with Roy Kettle under the "Harry Adam Knight" pen-name - Slimer and Carnosaur. Both of these were made into films as well, but the books really are better. I miss John ... (Alan McKenzie)

Kid said...

Thanks, Al, for commenting - it's good to hear from someone who actually knew John. I remember recognising his name as the author of the Bond book when I subsequently saw his name in Starburst magazine, with which you were also connected in a big way. It's just a shame that he never got to do a 3rd updated edition of James Bond in the Cinema - I'd have loved to have seen that happen. I'll have to give some of those books you mention a try.

RickH said...

And I thought I was the only one who bought that book! I remember ordering it from an ad in one of the Warren horror mags in 1973. It really is a great book!

Kid said...

Indeed, RH. And remember, it comes from a time before videos and DVDs - and even from before the Bond movies were on TV - so the only way to 'relive' them was at the cinema whenever they were shown - or to read this book. I think it's a great little read.

TC said...

I had the original edition, which covered the films up to DAF. IIRC, there was also a chapter with a brief overview of the 1960s spy-fi fad (Matt Helm, Flint, Man From U.N.C.L.E., et al.). Brosnan actually seemed to like the 1966 Modesty Blaise movie and the 1967 version of Casino Royale. No accounting for taste.

Sometime ca. 1980, there was a news item in Starlog magazine reporting on the new edition, which would cover the 1970s films starring Roger Moore. I never saw it on sale anywhere, though.

In the US, the Bond movies were often re-released in theaters up until the early 1970s; the first ones that I saw were Thunderball and You Only Live Twice, when they ran on a double bill sometime around 1970-71. The Flint and Helm movies, and Casino Royale, turned up on network TV at about that same time. A few years later, the ABC (American Broadcasting Company) network bought the TV rights for the official Bond series, so they broadcast the Connery films, and (after they completed their theatrical runs, of course) the ones with Moore.

Kid said...

I did get the occasional issue of Starlog, TC, but if I ever saw that ad I don't remember having done so. One day when I have time, I'll look through my back issues (such as they are) and see if I can spot it. The first I was aware of the revised edition was in the 2nd letter on show in the post, but as Tantivy never replied to my enquiries about it, I sort of forgot about it. Besides, there were other books in a similar vein (one by Steven Jay Rubin springs to mind), which covered some of the Moore movies.

In Britain, the Bond films were first sold to TV in 1973 or '74, but they didn't start appearing until 28th October '75, beginning with Dr. No and then appearing in sequential order over the next few years. Live & Let Die was first shown on 20th January 1980 and still holds the audience record (23 million) of any Bond movie on TV.

My local cinema started showing Bond double bills on Saturday mornings in the early '70s, and I saw my very first one on 25th November, 1972. Unfortunately, I can't precisely recall which two it was, because the cinema mixed and matched them from week to week. One Saturday they might show Dr. No and Goldfinger, the next FRWL and Thunderball, and then perhaps YOLT and DAF. The following week it might be Thunderball and Dr. No, etc. (They didn't always show them in sequence.) I have a feeling that Dr. No was the first one I saw, but one day I'll have to go to my local library and look through old copies of the local newspaper to see which Bond movies were shown on that date.

Ah, happy days. Really looking forward to receiving the 2nd edition of the Brosnan book.

Philip Crawley said...

The 2nd edition is the one that I have and have hung onto as with nearly all of the books picked up back the glorious 70s (and early 80s). As I really look after the things that I buy it is in almost the same condition it was when I first put it on the shelf. A few other Bond film coverage books have since joined it in the intervening years, 4 of them now I think. (At the office now so can't just swing 'round to the bookcase). Just been re-organizing the books lately, in a bit of a nostalgic mood, putting the '70s collection' all on one part of the book case, especially the books on Horror and SF (Gifford, Frank, Butler, Beck etc) Do those ever books bring back memories of that time, the Bond book included. Just seeing that cover again transports me.

Kid said...

I find it odd that the Bond producers threatened legal action over the publication in Britain of a second edition of a book that they'd previously approved, and yet seemed to have no problem with it being published in America (or Australia it seems), PC. Doesn't really make any sense to me. I've got around five or six books in a similar vein to the Brosnan one, plus a few others dealing with Bond girls, and posters and the like. I'm looking forward to reading Brosnan's take on the first four Roger Moore movies. Just re-read Steven Jay Rubin's book too. There was an updated version of that as well, which I must track down some day. Yeah, the covers take you right back in time, don't they? Seeing the Brosnan (1st edition) one takes me back to my local library, a sunken garden, and a bookshop that ceased to exist decades ago. Yet one look at that cover and I'm back there seeing it on the bookshelf and salivating at the prospect of buying my very own copy as if it were only yesterday.

Kid said...

Update: Incidentally, apparently Live & Let Die's first appearance on UK TV in 1980 holds the audience record for ANY movie, not just the Bond ones. 23 and a half million viewers tuned in that night.

Philip Crawley said...

Also, isn't it one of those odd quirks of fate, for want of a better expression, that the surname of an author writing a book about the Bond films should be same as one of the actors to later play that character?! What are the odds?

Kid said...

Funnily enough, PC, I meant to say I wonder how Brosnan felt when Pierce took over the role, but the thought had evaporated by the time I finished the post. That's a good question though - I wonder what the odds actually are?

Philip Crawley said...

Did a bit of Bond book related searching around the net in the wake of your post and found this site

http://www.toysofbond.co.uk/Printed_Material/james_bond_information_books.html

- never knew there were so many books on Bond!!

Kid said...

I'm glad to be able to say I have a number of these books, PC, but nowhere near the full set. I may buy the latest one, The James Bond Diaries, even though I've got the original paperback from 1973. Ta for the link.



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