James Bond fandom

The first[3] James Bond Fan Club was founded in 1972 by Richard Schenkman and Bob Forlini, two high school students from Yonkers, NY.

[10] Contributors to the fan site commanderbond.net have been credited with discovering the plagiarism in the novel Assassin of Secrets, which was published in the US by Little, Brown and Company and then withdrawn.

[17] Mark O'Connell published Catching Bullets: Memoirs of a Bond Fan in 2012, describing his fandom in the context of being gay.

[19] Other fan tourism destinations include the Contra Dam in Switzerland, the Rock of Gibraltar, the Meteora monasteries, and Jamaica's Green Grotto Caves.

"[22] Some travel agencies have organized a subdivision to create tours specifically highlighting iconic landmarks in the world of James Bond.

[24] US President John F. Kennedy was a fan of the Bond novels, naming From Russia with Love as one of his ten favorite books in a 1961 Life magazine article.

[27] Several authors have suggested that Kennedy's fandom, along with that of other members of the CIA, influenced his decision to launch the Bay of Pigs invasion and other means of overthrowing Fidel Castro.

[29] Garry Wills wrote that while the invasion looked "crazy" in retrospect, it "made sense to a James Bond fan.

[31] Actor Daniel Craig's announcement as Bond met with a protest from fans who organised the website craignotbond.com and urged a boycott.

[35] The media historian James Chapman identifies a divide between the fans of the Bond films and those who focus on the Fleming books.

"[36] Another divide is identified by Mark Duffett, who sees the books' readership as a function of the expectations they had already acquired; some approached them as romance novels and others as spy thrillers.

The participants, who he describes as 'overwhelmingly white, middle-aged, heterosexual men,' visit Bond film shooting locations and recount their experiences in detail.