The Many Lives of James Bond

This fall, a new behind the scenes book about the James Bond phenomenon will hit the (digital) shelves: The Many Lives of James Bond - How The Creators of 007 Have Decoded The Superspy, by Mark Edlitz.

The Many Lives of James Bond offers a collection of original interviews with actors who have played Bond in different media, as well as in-depth interviews with many of the diverse artists who have contributed their talents to the making of James Bond movies, television shows, novels, radio dramas, comic books, and video games. The book includes 42 illustrations and 42 photos.

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The wide-ranging interviews provide a behind-the-scenes look at the artists’ goals, the challenges they faced, and how they met them. This book examines the Bond character through the eyes of the artists who interpret him. As the author talked with these creative people, a through line emerged. It involves a series of related fundamental questions about Bond that artists must reckon with when interpreting the character. Who is James Bond and what, if anything, beyond successfully completing a mission does he really want? What drives him? Why did he become an agent? What is the nature of his inner-life? Would he be capable of a satisfying life away from high-octane adventure and danger? These questions challenge and inspire the creators to pull back the curtain on a deliberately opaque figure in an attempt to explore and analyze Bond’s interior life and thought processes, and how the Bond actors have interpreted the role.

978-1-4930-4156-5 $27.95, Hardback
978-1-4930-4157-2 $26.50, Electronic book text
Imprint: Lyons Press
November 2019
312 pages
Size: 7 x 10"

About the author

Mark Edlitz has made a name for himself by writing about beloved and sometimes overlooked manifestations of pop culture. He wrote about Princess Leia’s Metal Bikini for The Huffington Post, the Superman Broadway musical for Hero Complex in the Los Angeles Times, and about the forgotten Doctor Strange TV movie for Ain’t It Cool News.

Mark wrote the book How to Be a Superhero, a collection of interviews with 35 actors who played superheroes over the last seven decades.

He also produced and directed Jedi Junkies, a documentary about extreme Star Wars fans. Mark lives in New York City with his superhero wife and two villainous children.