Upcoming release: Beat Girls, Love Tribes, and Real Cool Cats: Pulp Fiction and Youth Culture, 1950-1980. Paul Bishop and David Foster from Spy Vibe sister-sites, Bish's Beat and Permission To Kill, have teamed up with a number of other pulp authors and pop culture scholars to create an exciting overview of mass-market paperbacks. From the press release: "The first comprehensive account of the rise of youth culture
and mass-market paperback fiction in the postwar period, Beat Girls is a
must-read for anyone interested in retro and subcultural style and popular
fiction. As the young created new styles in music, fashion and culture, pulp
fiction followed their every step, hyping and exploiting their behavior and
language for mass consumption. From the juvenile delinquent gangs of the early
fifties, through the beats and hippies, on to bikers, skinheads and punks, pulp
fiction left no trend untouched. Boasting wild covers and action-packed plots,
these books reveal as much about society’s desires and fears as they do about
the subcultures themselves. Featuring over 300 pulp covers, many never before
reprinted, as well 70 in-depth author interviews and biographies, articles and
reviews, Beat Girls offers the most extensive survey of the era’s mass market
pulp fiction. Novels by well-known authors like Harlan Ellison, Lawrence Block,
Evan Hunter/Ed McBain, and by filmmakers Samuel Fuller and Ed Wood Jr., are
discussed alongside neglected obscurities and contemporary bestsellers ripe for
rediscovery. More than 20 critics and scholars of popular culture contributed
to this celebration of a fascinating body of work." This project thrills me on a number of levels. As a kid who searched the bookshops every weekend for James Bond and Man From U.N.C.L.E paperbacks, my eyes always scanned over the piles of other authors and series titles that crammed the mystery and adventure shelves. There were so many I didn't have time to explore, but now Beat Girls can serve as an excellent introduction! And as an adult with a background in sociology, I'm especially interested to read about mass-market books and how they reflected youth culture and changes in society during the Cold War. Beat Girls comes out in November from Verse Chorus Press, but you can pre-order on Amazon here. Congratulations to Paul, David, and the Beat Girls team for what will certainly prove to be an essential addition to everyone's Spy Vibe library.
Selected Spy Vibe posts: Leonard Nimoy Tribute, Shatner at 84, Bob Morane series, New Saint Publications, The Saint Complete box set, Gerry Anderson Box Sets, Bond LEGO, Deadlier Than the Male, Spectre Report, Music For Spies, Thai Bond Design, Brian Clemens RIP, Bond vs Modernism, Imitation Game, New Avengers Books, Road to Hong Kong, Inside Gerry Anderson, Ringo Does Goldfinger, Sixties Beat Wear, SPECTRE Announced, Popular Skullture, New Gerry Anderson Sets, New SECRET AGENT set, Art of Modesty, Avengers Blu-ray update, Tokyo Beat 1964, Polaroid Spy, Modesty Monday, Feraud Mod Fashion, Flint Scores!, Bond Danish, Home Movies, New Richard Sala Book, New 007 Comics, Designing Bond Books, Green Hornet Manga, Margaret Nolan Art, No 6 Festival, Barbarella Returns, 007 Audio Books Return, Designer: Gene Winfield, Avengers Interview: Michael Richardson, Ian Fleming: Wicked Grin, Jane Bond Hong Kong Records, Ryan Heshka Interview, Comics Week: Man From R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E., Comics Week: Archie, Comics Week: Robots, Comics Week: Cold War Atomic, Comics Week: SPYMAN, Comics Week: Jimmy Olsen, Rare Avengers Scripts, Man From Uncle UK Comics, Mattel X-15, Thunderbirds Comics, Shakespeare Spies: Diana Rigg, Shakespeare Spies I, Rodney Marshall Avengers Interview, Avengers Book: Bowler Hats & Kinky Boots, George Lois Design & Mad Men, Richard Sala: Super-Enigmatix, Danger Diabolik Soundtrack, Cold War Archie, Playboy Bunny Interview, The 10th Victim Japanese and Kindle, U.N.C.L.E. Japanese Books, The 10th Victim German Edition, The Saint books return, Trina Robbins Interview, Catsuits, Batman '66 Green Hornet Interview: Ralph Garman Ty Templeton.
Ian Fleming was born on this day, May 28th in 1908. After serving as assistant to the Director of Naval Intelligence in the Admiralty during WWII, Fleming became the manager of foreign correspondents for Kelmsley newspapers, owners of the Sunday Times and other papers. His job offered him three months off a year to spend time at his Goldeneye retreat in Jamaica. In 1952, he sat down and created the first James Bond novel, Casino Royale (published in April, 1953). Where some writers aim to tug at the heart or stimulate the brain, Fleming confessed that the target of his books lay "somewhere between the solar plexus and the upper thigh."
Ian Fleming has been a great inspiration to me all of my life, both for his genius invention and as a role model as a writer. Fleming established a disciplined writing routine that he later described in an essay called How to Write a Thriller. At Goldeneye, he would write for three hours in the morning, then for one hour between six and seven at night. Fleming would not edit or revise as he went, allowing the words to flow naturally. By the end of six weeks, producing at four hours per day, he would complete a solid draft of each new novel. Fleming would eventually publish fourteen 007 books, as well as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Diamond Smugglers, and Thrilling Cities before his death in 1964.
Before agent 007 hit the big screen, Fleming's novels were serialized as a comic strip in England. Beautifully drawn and adapted directly from his writing, many prefer the comic as a graphic version of Fleming's vision. The strips have been reprinted by Titan Books. In addition to the James Bond movie franchise and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Ian Fleming himself was the subject of two TV movies: 1989's Goldeneye with Charles Dance 1990's Spymaker: The Secret Life of Ian Fleming, starring Sean Connery's son, Jason Connery. The next generation passion for his story continued this month with the announcement that Duncan Jones (son of David Bowie) will direct a biopic about Fleming's life. There is also a biopic in development that has Leonardo DiCaprio attached.
Inspired by Fleming, I have been working on new book projects. I will announce details soon, but I can tell you now that one will be an ebook anthology that Paul Bishop and I are creating for an October release. Get ready for some thrilling 1960s spy action!
See Spy Vibe's posts about Fleming First Editions and the upcoming Fleming Bibliography here. Read about Ian Fleming's publications, and the official James Bond authors who followed him, at the Commander Bond Network. Learn more at the Ian Fleming website. You can find his books and other spy treasures in Spy Vibe's secure Amazon Store.
Pulp Fiction/Spy connoisseur and fellow C.O.B.R.A.S. writer, Paul Bishop of Bish's Beat, will be interviewed on Martini in the Morning on Tuesday, July 12th at 9:30am (pacific). Tune in and catch Bish as he talks about lounge music, gumshoes, and his new reality TV series for ABC, Take The Money And Run- from the producers of CSI and The Amazing Race, the new series premieres on August 2nd!
