Bond and beyond : the political career of a popular hero /

Bennett and Woollacott present numerous insightful observations about the nature and progress of the phenomena of James Bond. Abstracted out, this material would be interesting and useful to a wide range of readers. The authors, however, bludgeon the reader with too much theoretical orientation and consideration. This material on the nature, transmission, and reception of ``texts,'' often written in the obscure syntax and diction of linguistic and cultural theorists, will appeal to far fewer readers. This would have been a far better book had it simply dealt with the image of Fleming's creations or if it were an unabashed book on how to interpret texts. Recommended only for university popular culture collections.-L.L. Panek, Western Maryland College