163 replies to this topic

[Gri007]

[quote name='Emma' date='24 October 2005 - 21:00'][quote name='David Schofield' date='23 August 2005 - 18:37'][quote name='Gri007' date='14 August 2005 - 08:10']Pearson says James has got a brother called Henry.

[Trempo]

On Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.de the book "James Bond: The Authorised Biography" is available for pre-order. Here are the details:

# Hardcover 400 pages (September 7, 2006)
# Publisher: Century
# ISBN: 1846051142
The price is

[zencat]

[quote name='Trempo' date='21 January 2006 - 03:07']On Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.de the book "James Bond: The Authorised Biography" is available for pre-order. Here are the details:

# Hardcover 400 pages (September 7, 2006)
# Publisher: Century
# ISBN: 1846051142
The price is

[Double-Oh Agent]

Any idea if it will be available in the U.S.?

[Qwerty]

Holy cats! 

Great.

LOL. You have to be one of that books' biggest fans, zen.

[Tiin007]

Any idea if it will be available in the U.S.?

Yup. Amazon has US release date as November 28, soon after CR's release.

Amazon

[zencat]

It's now discounted 34% on Amazon.co.uk. Good time to pre-order.

[Solex Agitator]

Zencat, I was wondering if you knew anything about John Pearson's where-abouts and activities these days. Please forgive me if I did not see this info posted elsewhere.

And to add to that thought, it would be marvelous if zencat could do an interview with Mr. Pearson! I can think of no one better qualified to tackle such an interview!

Edited by Solex Agitator, 02 July 2006 - 01:21 AM.

[Graham Rye - 007 MAGAZINE Ltd]

Zencat, I was wondering if you knew anything about John Pearson's where-abouts and activities these days. Please forgive me if I did not see this info posted elsewhere.

And to add to that thought, it would be marvelous if zencat could do an interview with Mr. Pearson! I can think of no one better qualified to tackle such an interview!

There will be a new interview with John Pearson in the next issue of 007 MAGAZINE OnLine due to be published on August 1st.

[zencat]

Zencat, I was wondering if you knew anything about John Pearson's where-abouts and activities these days. Please forgive me if I did not see this info posted elsewhere.

And to add to that thought, it would be marvelous if zencat could do an interview with Mr. Pearson! I can think of no one better qualified to tackle such an interview!

There will be a new interview with John Pearson in the next issue of 007 MAGAZINE OnLine due to be published on August 1st.

Oh, excellent! Can't wait for that. Thanks, Graham.

[zencat]

Huh.

I just learned something very interesting. The new OO7 Magazine Online (#49) has an interview with John Pearson and it turns out 'James Bond The Authorized Biography of 007' was NOT commissioned by Glidrose.

The idea for the book was concocted by Pearson's agent and the publisher Sidgwick & Jackson. Pearson had a good relationship with Peter Janson-Smith at Glidrose and "paid them a little bit -- just to cheer everyone up" and set off to write what he expected would be a spoof, but grew more serious as he wrote it.

So this explains why the book wasn't published by Jonathan Cape and why the copyright reads "Glidrose and John Pearson" (no other continuation author is given copyright credit). It also explains why this book has always been treated as sort of existing outside the official novels--a bastard child. Because it was!

Interesting...

[Double-Oh Agent]

Huh.

I just learned something very interesting. The new OO7 Magazine Online (#49) has an interview with John Pearson and it turns out 'James Bond The Authorized Biography of 007' was NOT commissioned by Glidrose.

The idea for the book was concocted by Pearson's agent and the publisher Sidgwick & Jackson. Pearson had a good relationship with Peter Janson-Smith at Glidrose and "paid them a little bit -- just to cheer everyone up" and set off to write what he expected would be a spoof, but grew more serious as he wrote it.

So this explains why the book wasn't published by Jonathan Cape and why the copyright reads "Glidrose and John Pearson" (no other continuation author is given copyright credit). It also explains why this book has always been treated as sort of existing outside the official novels--a bastard child. Because it was!

Interesting...

This is shocks me. I never would have guessed that it wasn't official. After all it says "Authorized" in the title and is done by the same man who did Ian Fleming's biography. I guess this also partly explains (perhaps) why Charlie Higson never read Pearson's James Bond: The Authorized Biography Of 007 when he was doing research for the Young Bond novels.

I have to say that this news disappoints me. I love this book. It has a lot of nice and interesting tidbits of Bond's life and reads like some of the things he would have done. Unfortunately, I can't help but reconsider whether this book (at least from my point of view) should remain in the series. On one hand, it's not "official" so it shouldn't count. On the other, it is faithful to the spirit of Ian Fleming and the Bond novels, and, if Peter Janson-Smith knew about it, surely Glidrose did as well (they do have the co-copyright after all).

So with all that in mind, I think I will still include it as an "official" entry. After all, if Glidrose had not wanted this book written, I'm sure it would have been very easy for them to clamp down on the project and prevent its release. But since it was John Pearson doing it, and he did such a good job with Fleming's biography, they let him go ahead with it. My guess is, Glidrose secretly approved of the idea (perhaps as a way of sending out a feeler for a future continuation novel) but were cautious about the public's and critic's acceptance of the work following the lukewarm response of Kingsley Amis' Colonel Sun. As a result, they decided not to partner up with Pearson and publicize Bond's biography as one of their "continuation novel" entries because if the book wasn't a success, then they could simply pass it off as unofficial and something that had nothing to do with them. And if it was successful, well then so much the better. After all, the book did have the word "Authorized" in the title. It would be good for Bond and good for future Bond novels. With this strategy, Glidrose had the best of both worlds. They couldn't lose--and fortunately, neither did the readers.

So personally, whether it's because I want to believe it or not, I think this is a very possible scenario regarding the publishing of James Bond: The Authorized Biography. (At least it beats the non-official scenario.) Nevertheless, I will still count James Bond: The Authorized Biography Of 007 as an "official" entry in the series. If Glidrose/IFP doesn't stop a faithful-in-spirit and serious (not to mention mass-produced) novel regarding James Bond 007 AND goes ahead and co-copyrights it, then it's good enough for me to include it in the official series.

[spynovelfan]

Very interesting. And explains something I'd been wondering about: when I spoke to John Pearson last year about Geoffrey Jenkins, he expressed bemusement that anyone was still interested in his Bond stuff, and said there was even some chap in the US who was poring over all his papers. When I told him that his Bond 'novel' is still enjoyed and discussed today, he was amazed. 'But it's absolute crap!' he laughed. When I saw that 007 had an interview with Pearson I immediately wondered how, as he sounded pretty bored of Bond to me. But I guess the chap in the US was Mr Reineke, and he got to him in time!

Re the commissioning thing, perhaps it started out as an article idea and snowballed?

[Loomis]

Huh.

I just learned something very interesting. The new OO7 Magazine Online (#49) has an interview with John Pearson and it turns out 'James Bond The Authorized Biography of 007' was NOT commissioned by Glidrose.

The idea for the book was concocted by Pearson's agent and the publisher Sidgwick & Jackson. Pearson had a good relationship with Peter Janson-Smith at Glidrose and "paid them a little bit -- just to cheer everyone up" and set off to write what he expected would be a spoof, but grew more serious as he wrote it.

So this explains why the book wasn't published by Jonathan Cape and why the copyright reads "Glidrose and John Pearson" (no other continuation author is given copyright credit). It also explains why this book has always been treated as sort of existing outside the official novels--a bastard child. Because it was!

Interesting...

This is shocks me. I never would have guessed that it wasn't official. After all it says "Authorized" in the title and is done by the same man who did Ian Fleming's biography. I guess this also partly explains (perhaps) why Charlie Higson never read Pearson's James Bond: The Authorized Biography Of 007 when he was doing research for the Young Bond novels.

I have to say that this news disappoints me. I love this book. It has a lot of nice and interesting tidbits of Bond's life and reads like some of the things he would have done. Unfortunately, I can't help but reconsider whether this book (at least from my point of view) should remain in the series. On one hand, it's not "official" so it shouldn't count. On the other, it is faithful to the spirit of Ian Fleming and the Bond novels, and, if Peter Janson-Smith knew about it, surely Glidrose did as well (they do have the co-copyright after all).

So with all that in mind, I think I will still include it as an "official" entry. After all, if Glidrose had not wanted this book written, I'm sure it would have been very easy for them to clamp down on the project and prevent its release. But since it was John Pearson doing it, and he did such a good job with Fleming's biography, they let him go ahead with it. My guess is, Glidrose secretly approved of the idea (perhaps as a way of sending out a feeler for a future continuation novel) but were cautious about the public's and critic's acceptance of the work following the lukewarm response of Kingsley Amis' Colonel Sun. As a result, they decided not to partner up with Pearson and publicize Bond's biography as one of their "continuation novel" entries because if the book wasn't a success, then they could simply pass it off as unofficial and something that had nothing to do with them. And if it was successful, well then so much the better. After all, the book did have the word "Authorized" in the title. It would be good for Bond and good for future Bond novels. With this strategy, Glidrose had the best of both worlds. They couldn't lose--and fortunately, neither did the readers.

So personally, whether it's because I want to believe it or not, I think this is a very possible scenario regarding the publishing of James Bond: The Authorized Biography. (At least it beats the non-official scenario.) Nevertheless, I will still count James Bond: The Authorized Biography Of 007 as an "official" entry in the series. If Glidrose/IFP doesn't stop a faithful-in-spirit and serious (not to mention mass-produced) novel regarding James Bond 007 AND goes ahead and co-copyrights it, then it's good enough for me to include it in the official series.

Well, this simply makes Pearson's book the NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN of the literary series, a title that is not held by "The Killing Zone", which as I understand it was essentially nothing more than self-published fan fiction. If you can enjoy NSNA (and it seems that many fans can't, and purely because it isn't part of the "official" franchise), then there's no barrier to your enjoying Pearson. It is a "proper" Bond book, and "official" insofar as it's published by a legit publishing house - just not part of "the Glidrose/IFP series", or "canon". That's enough for me.

[Bon-san]

'...the copyright reads "Glidrose and John Pearson"'


That seems plenty official to me. I love this book. There are some odd passages, but mostly I find it quite interesting. It sits on my shelf between Colonel Sun and Christopher Wood's James Bond and Moonraker, as it should.

[spynovelfan]

Well, this simply makes Pearson's book the NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN of the literary series, a title that is not held by "The Killing Zone", which as I understand it was essentially nothing more than self-published fan fiction. If you can enjoy NSNA (and it seems that many fans can't, and purely because it isn't part of the "official" franchise), then there's no barrier to your enjoying Pearson. It is a "proper" Bond book, and "official" insofar as it's published by a legit publishing house - just not part of "the Glidrose/IFP series", or "canon". That's enough for me.

But it is official. It might not have been the official copyright holders' idea, and they might not have liked the idea at first, but they evidently came round to it: they are listed on the copyright page (with their knowledge, Hatfield fans! ). They didn't commission it, but if someone wrote a Sherlock Holmes story off their own back and the Conan Doyle estate then liked it enough to allow it to be published, that would also be official, surely.

If one can even discuss such things - I'm at a slight loss as to why the Eon films are regarded as official and NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN not. The makers of both had the rights to make their films, legally and, if anything, NSNA is much more 'official' than TOMORROW NEVER DIES, because it was written by someone who collaborated directly with Ian Fleming in making a story, something none of the other writers could ever claim (unless you count Fleming giving Roald Dahl a story idea). Ditto, Ian Fleming never had any say in choosing continuation writers or approving their work - indeed, it was Peter Fleming's decision to pursue continuations. Ian might not have wanted that to happen, and in fact his widow strongly objected to it. Legally, Peter had the right to decide, not Ann. But then legally McClory was granted the right to make NSNA. What's the difference?

[Loomis]

What's the difference? None, really. Just pointing out (although I appreciate that this won't exactly be news to most people ) that many Bond fans abhor NSNA purely because it isn't part of the hallowed Eon franchise. In other words, "If it isn't Broccoli, it must be the spawn of satan". A view about as logical and sane as "Daniel Craig is precisely two inches too short to play 007" or "Having Dench in CASINO ROYALE ruins everything forever", but widely held nonetheless.

Anyway, I'm delighted that Pearson's book is being republished, and am greatly looking forward to (finally) reading it.

[zencat]

I didn't say this book wasn't official (like The Killing Zone). It just wasn't a project initiated by Glidrose. They signed off on it for a fee and let the author and publisher do their own thing. Maybe they did have some creative say over the final project, but I have a feeling there was a more casual (and polite) approach to it all back then. It was just an idea for a book and they had a good personal relationship with the author, so, sure, go for it. Probably similar to how they approached something like The James Bond Bedside Companion. But it IS official. Just not canon as far as continuation novels go.

[Loomis]

I must say, it's a pretty good time to be a continuation novel fan, what with the recent reprints of Gardner and now the Pearson reissue. Wonder whether sites like CBn caused The Powers To Be to realise that there was a demand for old non-Fleming Bond novels. Probably not, but it's a nice thought.

[zencat]

I must say, it's a pretty good time to be a continuation novel fan, what with the recent reprints of Gardner and now the Pearson reissue. Wonder whether sites like CBn caused The Powers To Be to realise that there was a demand for old non-Fleming Bond novels. Probably not, but it's a nice thought.

Hey, could be.

I'm still wondering if IFP has anything to do with the reprint of Authorized Bio. Maybe not. As we've learned, they orginally signed off on the project, allowed James Bond to be used, but it was the publisher who paid the author to write the book so it's probably the publisher who owns it. They might need to pay a fee to IFP, but I wonder if IFP has any power to prevent the book from being published. Again, maybe it's not that big a deal to them. Someone wants to reprint it...sure, go for it. The fans will like that.

[doublenoughtspy]

But it IS official. Just not canon as far as continuation novels go.

Well considering how much Gardner, Benson, and now Higson ignore Fleming, and each other's work - "canon" is a moving target - almost a moot point. Especially since Glidrose told Benson he was welcome to use info from Amis/Pearson/Gardner but he didn't have to if he didn't want to.

And Fleming contradicted himself as well.

I for one am a huge fan of the Authorized Biography. I think Pearson did an outstanding job fleshing out Bond's life.

Pearson's research material for his Fleming biography (at the Lilly Library) is a treasure trove. So much didn't go into the book because Ann was still alive.

While Lycett gets the credit for the "warts and all" Fleming bio, Pearson just couldn't publish a lot of the stories.

[Bon-san]

I didn't say this book wasn't official...

No, clearly you did not. For my part, I was responding to Double-Oh Agent's sentiments.

BTW, thanks for posting this. I've been meaning to join 007 Magazine online. I've been resisting because it's just not the same as having those beautiful glossy pages in my hands.

[zencat]

Have you read the OO7 Magazine article, doublenoughtspy? There's a lot about the writing of the Fleming Bio and Pearson's problems with Ann Fleming and Kevin McClory. Seems every time I read something about the creation of some literary Bond property, those two pop up to give grief to the creator.

[Jim]

Seems every time I read something about the creation of some literary Bond property, those two pop up to give grief to the creator.

Why on Earth shouldn't they, though?

[zencat]

I didn't say this book wasn't official...

No, clearly you did not. For my part, I was responding to Double-Oh Agent's sentiments.

BTW, thanks for posting this. I've been meaning to join 007 Magazine online. I've been resisting because it's just not the same as having those beautiful glossy pages in my hands.

Yeah, I was also responding to Double-Oh Agent.

But I think he was just using the word official loosely...as in it wasn't a project conceived and executed by Glidrose, which it wasn't.

It's a shame to not have a hard copy OO7 anymore, but it's still great stuff (you should see all the concept art). And I was able to print out this article and sit down and read it. I don't like reading lengthy articles on a computer screen.

[doublenoughtspy]

Have you read the OO7 Magazine article, doublenoughtspy? There's a lot about the writing of the Fleming Bio and Pearson's problems with Ann Fleming and Kevin McClory. Seems every time I read something about the creation of some literary Bond property, those two pop up to give grief to the creator.

Yes I did.

And I agree, those two must have been quite a nightmare.

[Double-Oh Agent]

I didn't say this book wasn't official...

No, clearly you did not. For my part, I was responding to Double-Oh Agent's sentiments.

BTW, thanks for posting this. I've been meaning to join 007 Magazine online. I've been resisting because it's just not the same as having those beautiful glossy pages in my hands.

Yeah, I was also responding to Double-Oh Agent.

But I think he was just using the word official loosely...as in it wasn't a project conceived and executed by Glidrose, which it wasn't.

Yes, that's what I was getting at, if in a roundabout way. Thanks for clarifying zencat. The key to this whole thing is that Glidrose didn't try to stop the project and they co-copyrighted it. That should be enough for any Bond fan to include it in the continuation novels. Regardless, I greatly enjoy James Bond: The Authorized Biography Of 007 and, like Bon-san, keep it firmly nestled between Colonel Sun and James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me on my 007 bookshelf.

[David Schofield]

. Regardless, I greatly enjoy James Bond: The Authorized Biography Of 007 and, like Bon-san, keep it firmly nestled between Colonel Sun and James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me on my 007 bookshelf.

While I also greatly enjoy the Pearson book, in my collection it lies horizontally beneath The Moneypeny Diaries supporting the Wood Spy book on the left side and the Wood Moonraker (followed by Licence Renewed etc) on the right.

The reason for this is simply that the Pearson book (and the Moneypenny Diaries*) greatly contradict and correct (which I think is worse) Fleming, rather than just make silly continuity mistakes as we all accept Fleming himself did. Casno Royale to Wood's Spy could all have featured the same man. (His Moonraker is a problem).

Ok, its slightly, if not very, tautalogiocal take on the literary series. But its my tuppeny worth, for what its worth.

* though I might reconsider if Book II readdresses the continuity problems.

[Byron]

So what's the deal with the release date? Is it 2006 or 2007?

US amazon has the release slated for November 2006.

Anyone know?

The publishers really need their kicked for providing conflicting info. Morons.

[Qwerty]

I'm hoping November 2006. But I don't see why it would be changed on amazon.co.uk...