The Man With The Golden Typewriter by Fergus Fleming

By: FSWL team

Published:
2015-06-29

Publication of The Man with the Golden Typewriter: Ian Fleming's James Bond Letters, a landmark project from the Ian Fleming Estate about how one of the most popular series of books in the world came to be, and the as-it-happened record of the creation of the world’s most famous spy. Edited by Fergus Fleming, himself a writer of note and Ian Fleming’s nephew.

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On August 16, 1952, Ian Fleming wrote to his wife, Ann, "My love, This is only a tiny letter to try out my new typewriter and to see if it will write golden words since it is made of gold." He had bought the golden typewriter as a present to himself for finishing his first novel, Casino Royale. It marked in glamorous style the arrival of James Bond, agent 007, and the start of a career that saw Fleming become one the world's most celebrated thriller-writers. And he did write golden words. Before his death in 1964 he produced fourteen best-selling Bond books, two works of non-fiction and the famous children's story Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang.

Fleming's output was matched by an equally energetic flow of letters. He wrote constantly, to his wife, publisher, editors, fans, friends and critics - and to the wife of the man whose name Fleming appropriated for his hero - charting 007's progress with correspondence that ranged from badgering Jonathan Cape about his quota of free copies - a coin was tossed and Fleming lost - to apologizing for having mistaken a certain brand of perfume and for equipping Bond with the wrong kind of gun. His letters also reflect his friendship with such contemporaries as Raymond Chandler, Noel Coward and Somerset Maugham.

This entertaining and engaging compilation traces the arc of Fleming's literary career and details the inner working of James Bond. Set against the backdrop of his Jamaican retreat Goldeneye, and a troubled marriage, Fleming's letters are filled with wit, humor and occasional self-doubt. They reveal an intimate portrait of a man, an era and a literary phenomenon.

Book details:
Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1632864894
ISBN-13: 978-1408865477
Dimensions: 153 x 234 mm
Price: 25 GBP

About Fergus Fleming:
Ian Fleming’s nephew. He is the author of several other nonfiction books including Barrow’s Boys, Killing Dragons and Ninety Degrees North. He is also the co-publisher of Queen Anne Press.

About Ian Fleming:
Born in London in 1908. His first job was at Reuters news agency after which he worked briefly as a stockbroker before working in Naval Intelligence during the Second World War.

Fleming was married to Anne Rothermere with whom he had a son, Caspar. He died in 1964.

Editor's note:
For more Ian Fleming books featured on FSWL, click here.

For all Ian Fleming's novels featured on FSWL, click here.

Photo above:
Book cover for The Man with the Golden Typewriter: Ian Fleming's James Bond Letters. © 2015 Bloomsbury. All rights reserved.

Order The Man with the Golden Typewriter: Ian Fleming's James Bond Letters from Amazon UK:

www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1632864894/fromswedenwit-21/

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