Lots of people love James Bond. But how many have actually been Bond? The Many Lives of James Bond offers the largest ever 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. These wide-ranging interviews provide a behind-the-scenes look at the artists' goals, the challenges they faced, and how they met them. This book is also the first to examine 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 Bond. 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. Advance praise for The Many Lives of James Bond: "We all want to know 'the inside story' of Bond - and thanks to Mark Edlitz we now have possibly the fullest collection of Bond oral histories ever published in a single volume. What I particularly liked about The Many Lives of James Bond is that it recognizes the many and multifaceted contributions to Bond in all his media forms. An essential addition to every Bondologist's bookshelf." -- James Chapman, Professor of Film Studies at the University of Leicester and author of Licence To Thrill: A Cultural History of the James Bond Films. "Mark Edlitz has provided an insightful book that goes off the well-worn path in terms of interviews and provides perspectives from people associated with the films, novels, comic books, and video games. Even if your Bond library is extensive, you'll want to add this informative and highly entertaining work to your collection." -- Lee Pfeiffer, co-author of The Incredible World of 007 "Just when you thought that there was no more information to be printed about James Bond, Mark Edlitz comes along. And the material here isn't just broken fragments of rock with a faint glitter of fool's gold, either; it's the real 24-carat stuff. Edlitz has interviewed a wide variety of people connected with portraying Bond, from writers through actors to game designers and even poster artists, and each one has an attaché case-full of fascinating stories about their approach to the task. Bond has been accused of being a two-dimensional character, but if this book demonstrates anything, it demonstrates that Bond is multi-dimensional. Someone (I'm not sure who) once observed that every man wants to be Bond, but no man would want to have dinner with him. Based on this book, I'm guessing that Mark Edlitz must be a fascinating man with whom to share a dinner table..." ---Andrew Lane, co-author of The Bond Files . If you think you know all there is to know about 007, think again - Mark Edlitz has compiled a remarkable treasure-trove of 007 interviews, with insights not only from actors, filmmakers, and authors but also from the creators of James Bond music, comic books, and video games. There is much information here that has never before been revealed, making this a must-have for both casual and hard-core James Bond fans. Pour a martini and dive into the many amazing worlds of 007! --- Bruce Scivally, co-author of James Bond: The Legacy Praise for Mark Edlitz's book How to Be a Superhero Edlitz's impressive knowledge of not just superhero movies and TV shows, but of the comics that they're based on, enables him to ask incisive questions that get the actors talking about their super-roles in a way not many interviewers can do. The book is a unique take on the superhero phenomenon and well worth reading." -- Danny Fingeroth, author of Superman on the Couch: What Superheroes Really Tell Us about Ourselves and Our Society "This superpowered collection of more than 40 original in-depth interviews explores the role of superheroes in pop culture.... In his impressive debut, Edlitz interviews actors who have played parts in shaping modern America's quintessential mythologies: the superhero universe.... [The author's] lengthy introductions to each interview are packed with enough background info and trivia to please even hard-core fanboys... Edlitz's insightful questions also explore weightier topics such as religion, mythology, race, and the nature of heroism.... [An] all-out victory." -- Kirkus Reviews "To be, as Chris Reeve put it, 'a temporary custodian' of these stories (myths really)