‘Catching Bullets’ – 1980s Bond in the eyes of a young fan

Among the barrage of publications that marks James Bond’s 50th anniversary on the big screen this year will also see a number of less conventional but all the more noteworthy releases. One of these is the upcoming book by comedy and screen writer Mark O’Connell (‘Carrying Dad’, ‘The Last Laugh’), his memoirs of growing up as a Bond fan in the teeming 1980s, coming under the catchy title’ Catching Bullets’. It provides a close-up view on 1980s Bond, by a fan with true enthusiasm and given from an unexpected angle.

From Splendid Books’ website:

From the offbeat vantage point of a gay teenager whose grandfather was chauffeur to legendary 007 producer Cubby Broccoli, Catching Bullets – Memoirs of a Bond Fan is a love-letter to James Bond, Duran Duran title songs and bolting down your tea quick enough to watch Roger Moore falling out of a plane without a parachute.

When Jimmy O’Connell took a job as chauffeur for 007 producers Eon Productions, it would not just be Cubby Broccoli, Roger Moore and Sean Connery he would drive to James Bond. His grandson Mark swiftly hitches a ride on a humorous journey of filmic discovery where Bond movies fire like bespoke bullets at a Reagan-era Catholic childhood marked with divorce, a closet-gay adolescence sound-tracked by John Barry and an adult life as a comedy writer still inspired by that Broccoli movie magic.

‘Catching Bullets’ will be published on September 3rd 2012 by Splendid Books and can already be pre-ordered at the publishers.

You can discuss the book here

Thanks to author Mark O’Connell for alerting us. We will try to get more details on this as they come.