DMC gets Amazon Product Description

The official Amazon Product/Book Description for Devil May Care has appeared on the Canadian Amazon website.

Book Description
Bond is back with a license to thrill. Forty-three years ago, Ian Fleming wrote his last great 007 adventure. Now, in Devil May Care, the world’s most iconic spy returns in a Cold War story spanning the world’s exotic locations. By invitation of the Fleming estate to mark the centenary of his birth, acclaimed novelist Sebastian Faulks picks up where Fleming left off, writing a tour de force that will electrify every James Bond fan. A fitting tribute to the Bond tradition, Devil May Care stands on its own as a triumph of witty prose and plenty of double-0 action.

MORE THAN 100 MILLION BOND BOOKS HAVE BEEN SOLD AND OVER HALF THE WORLD’S POPULATION HAS SEEN A BOND FILM.

“In his house in Jamaica, Ian Fleming used to write a thousand words in the morning, then go snorkeling, have a cocktail, lunch on the terrace, more diving, another thousand words in the late afternoon, then more martinis and glamorous women. In my house in London, I followed this routine exactly, apart from the cocktails, the lunch, and the snorkeling.” Sebastian Faulks

“He has an ability to write convincingly in whichever period or genre he chooses. . . Sebastian couldn’t have written a better book to celebrate Ian’s 100th birthday.” Corinne Turner, managing director of Ian Fleming Publications Limited

About the Author
SEBASTIAN FAULKS worked as a journalist before taking up writing full time in 1991. He is the author of ten books including Charlotte Gray and Birdsong, for which he was voted author of the year by the British Book Awards. Faulks has published eight books in the United States, including the recently released Engleby. He lives in London.

The Ian Fleming origin of "Manny the Girl"

We all know Charlie Higson has been planting references to the original Ian Fleming novels in his Young Bond series. Some have been easy to spot -- such as Bond seeing the doorway of Universal Exports in Double or Die. Some have been a little more obscure -- such as Bond witnessing a circus performance by The Mighty Donovan in SilverFin. But here’s a Fleming reference that may have gone unnoticed by even the most studied Bond aficionado.

In Hurricane Gold we meet the brain damaged henchman “Manny the Girl.” Higson tells us Manny received his nicknamed because his M.O. of robbing banks dressed as a woman. Great stuff. But could this nickname also have its roots in Fleming?

On page 113 of James Bond The Man and His World by Henry Chancellor (an excellent book I highly recommend) we get a rare peek at a list of unused character names from an Ian Fleming notebook. Among gems like Betty Freshette, Pearl Dazzle, Pelikan Strat, and Doctor Thong we find...

“Manny the Girl.”

Have you spotted any other Fleming references in the Young Bond series that may have been missed. If so, drop us an email.

License revoked or renewed? Will James Bond be 007 in DMC?

As I sit and digest my Christmas dinner and enjoy a vacation from the picket lines, my thoughts turn to next year and the release of Sebastian Faulks' Devil May Care, which sees the return of the adult James Bond 007.

But wait. Can this James Bond still be "007"?

Here's the thing. Bond's double-O status is revoked in Ian Fleming's You Only Live Twice. Is it restored in The Man With The Golden Gun? I don't recall, but considering Bond's inauspicious return to the secret service (as a brainwashed Russian assassin), I don't think it is. Also, according to the very fine James Bond The Man and His World by Henry Chancellor, mandatory retirement for a Double-oh is age 45. If we accept the generally agreed upon 1920 birth date, James Bond is 46 or 47 in 1967 when Devil May Care takes place. So even if his license to kill was resorted in The Man With The Golden Gun or after, Bond has hit the retirement age.

Taking all this into account, how can Bond possibly be "007" in Devil May Care?

Now, it's possible Faulks will simply blow past all this and stamp his Bond as Agent 007 as Kingsley Amis did in Colonel Sun. This wouldn't send me into fits. I'm not really a stickler for continuity when it comes to James Bond (if I were, I'd have to accept that Bond is 82 in The Man With The Red Tattoo).

However, if Devil May Care aspires to be a true continuation of the Fleming canon as advertised (with Faulks "writing as Ian Fleming") the uncertain status of James Bond's famous double-oh number should be addressed, wouldn't you think?

Just another aspect of this book to look forward to.

Centenary website launched

Ian Fleming Publications has launched a new website, IanFlemingCentenary.com, devoted to next year's Centenary events and publications.

New to the line-up of events is the exhibit "Bond Bound: Ian Fleming & The Art of Cover Design," which charts the role of artists and designers in creating and defining the Bond look from Casino Royale through Young Bond, The Moneypenny Diaries, and Devil May Care. The exhibit will be on show at the Fleming Collection gallery from 22 April to 28 June 2008.

The site will be regularly updated throughout the centenary year.

Devil May Care worldwide publishers

New website IanFlemingCentenary.com has posted a list of Devil May Care's International publishers. The new adult Bond novel by Sebastian Faulks will be released worldwide on May 28, 2008, the Centenary of Ian Fleming's birth.

Devil May Care publishers listed alphabetically by country.

BRAZIL - Record
CZECH REPUBLIC - XYZ
FINLAND - Gummerus
FRANCE - Flammarion
GERMANY - Heyne
GREECE - Oceanida
HOLLAND - Bruna
HUNGARY - Alexandra
ISRAEL - Penn
ITALY - Piemme
MACEDONIA - Kultura
NORWAY - Schibsteds
POLAND - Ksiazki
PORTUGAL - Civilizacao
SPAIN - Seix Barral
SWEDEN - Forum