Publisher Description

you can't stop it. everyone's expendable, James. everyone's replaceable. even you. especially you. In a penetrating, violent, sexy, and often hilarious apocalypse, a world-famous superspy meets his demise at the hands of an audacious, painstaking poet. Kimmy Beach fuses popular culture and narrative poetry to astonishing effect in this, her fifth book. Feasting on the tropes, traps, and types of the James Bond mythos and doubling back on the incendiary narrative of Nikos Kazantzakis' The Last Temptation of Christ, Beach and her cast of loved-and-left Bond Girls dismantle the man and his mysteries. Fans of Beach's tenacious poetry and readers seeking redemption in explosive narrative and fearless wit will love The Last Temptation of Bond.

Back Cover

Front Flap: Kimmy Beach's The Last Temptation of Bond is a frisky and erudite romp into the world of pop culture icon, James Bond. As 007 comes to terms with his own mortality, the women in his life (and there are many), circle in for the kill. Parodies of pop culture have long been Beach's trademark territory, but what sets The Last Temptation of Bond apart from her previous work is the ease with which she straddles the perceived divide between contemporary pop culture and modernist literature. Raunchy and irreverent, The Last Temptation of Bond will appeal to the rabble and the literary aesthetes. Back Cover: Quote 1: Especially You you can't stop it. everyone's expendable, James. everyone's replaceable. even you. especially you. Quote 2: Making a Vesper Martini for You you pull me to you. I feel the Walther P99 under your dinner jacket. (damn it, I always have a bruise there.) you take my mouth. I taste lemon and dry gin, the precursor to your leaving. the edges of your jacket brush me as you turn to go, the screen door banging behind you. I lock the door, pour myself another, watch The Spy Who Loved Me. looking for the real you. Back Flap: Kimmy Beach is the author of four collections of poetry. Her second, Alarum Within: theatre poems has twice been adapted as a stage play. Kimmy has served as Writer in Residence for the Writers Guild of Alberta, the Saskatchewan Writers' Guild, and the Parkland Regional Library. Her work has appeared widely in journals across Canada and in the UK. She lives in Red Deer. Other books by Kimmy Beach: Nice Day for Murder: poems for James Cagney, Alarum Within: theatre poems, fake Paul, in Cars.

Author Biography

Kimmy Beach is the author of four collections of poetry. Her second book, Alarum Within, was adapted twice as a full-length stage play. She lives in Red Deer, Alberta.

Review

"Essentially Beach takes away the main thing that's made Bond films international hits for five decades - the vicarious jolt of escapist adventure they provide for our ho-hum lives. So how does Bond cope with this smothering dose of reality?. Readers will have to peruse The Last Temptation of Bond, an imaginative pastiche of poetry, prose and playwriting, to see whether the one-time spy gets his action-packed life back." Lana Michelin, Red Deer Advocate, March 15, 2013
"[Kimmy Beach] has a tremendous skill at drawing readers into whatever world she is creating - we see the characters, we hear them and our senses are starkly aware of their surroundings. Readers truly feel close to what's going on. Honestly, there is little that can compare with her boldness as an author and creativity as an artist. Each word feels like it has been carefully chosen, but at the same time the text clips along with a completely natural feel." Mark Weber, Red Deer Express, April 10, 2013
"The poet's fifth collection is an exploration of [James Bond's] essence, the alchemical composition of his fictional (and physical) allure. The Last Temptation of Bond, however, is far more than an erotic exploration of a beloved character; it is also an examination of the limits of that character, the points at which Bond might become fractured and undone. Beach explores Bond at his most vulnerable, at moments of self-doubt, loathing, failure, and fear (the same way Scorsese treats Christ in the film alluded to in the collection's title). Beach is no stranger to exploring seductive pop-culture figures in her poetry.... She handles Bond even more intimately, wriggling her fingers into the fault lines of his psyche and gleefully ripping." Natalie Zina Walschots, Quill & Quire [Full review at ]
#2 on the Calgary Herald's Bestsellers list (Fiction) for the week of June 29, 2013
"As a publication within U of A Press's Robert Kroetsch poetry series, the book's freedom of movement among genres and voices honours Kroetsch, who would have appreciated both the elevation and the reduction (but not the demise, Bond is eternal) of the cultural hero. The cover (Roberto Conte's angel) is stunning.... From the start, through highly detailed second-person, as well as third-person prose, Beach pulls her readers into the world of Bond and his women.... The power of this book is its confident enjoyment within fictional and imaginative realities.... The book calculatedly engages its readers on an experiential level and demands readers' responses not only to its content but to the ways the content is delivered. Its light touch is always tongue in cheek..." Cornelia Hoogland, The Coastal Spectator, June 29, 2013 [Full review at /]
"Red Deer's Kimmy Beach offers her best book yet in The Last Temptation of Bond. In something resembling an experimental thriller/romance novel, Beach's long poem satirizes the pop-culture figure of James Bond.. The Last Temptation of Bond is smarter, funnier, sexier and perhaps even more plausible than any Bond film." Jonathan Ball, Winnipeg Free Press, July 27, 2013 [Full article at ]
Quill & Quire asked readers to submit their favourite Canadian titles of 2013, and while the results featured a breadth of authors and publishers, some clear winners stood out, such as The Last Temptation of Bond!
"In this book of wonderful poetry on all things Bond, Beach invents a few what-if situations and also a very exciting but mysterious woman she calls One." Alex Waterhouse-Hayward, February 18, 2014 [Full post at ]
"In a penetrating, violent, sexy, and often hilarious apocalypse, a world-famous superspy meets his demise at the hands of an audacious, painstaking poet. Kimmy Beach fuses popular culture and narrative poetry to astonishing effect in this, her fifth book. Feasting on the tropes, traps, and types of the James Bond mythos and doubling back on the incendiary narrative of Nikos Kazantzakis The Last Temptation of Christ, Beach and her cast of loved-and-left Bond Girls dismantle the man and his mysteries. Fans of Beachs tenacious poetry and readers seeking redemption in explosive narrative and fearless wit will love this book." -- Zane Hannan * Facebook *
"This is Beach's most mature and sophisticated book yet and one that lends itself to different readings whether as entertainment, a feminist text, or a sophisticated play of intertextuality.... I woke with a smoker's cough and a vicarious hangover after reading these poems." FreeFall, Vol. XXIV, No. 1 -- Bruce Hunter * FreeFall *

Long Description

Kimmy Beach's The Last Temptation of Bond is a frisky and erudite romp into the world of pop culture icon, James Bond. As 007 comes to terms with his own mortality, the women in his life (and there are many), circle in for the kill. For once, they will influence the narrative of his life. Parodies of pop culture have long been Beach's trademark territory, but what sets The Last Temptation of Bond apart from her previous work is the ease with which she straddles the perceived divide between contemporary pop culture and modernist literature. Raunchy and irreverent, The Last Temptation of Bond will appeal to the rabble and the literary aesthetes.

Review Quote

This is Beach's most mature and sophisticated book yet and one that lends itself to different readings whether as entertainment, a feminist text, or a sophisticated play of intertextuality.... I woke with a smoker's cough and a vicarious hangover after reading these poems.

Promotional "Headline"

Poet Kimmy Beach has succeeded where every Bond villain has failed: to kill 007.

Details