A Literary Bond
Michelle Disler
Ohio Wesleyan University faculty member Michelle Disler, Ph.D., discusses her book, “[BOND, JAMES]: alphabet, anatomy, [auto]biography” in Berfrois, a literary-intellectual online magazine.
“[T]he more I read the novels, the more I became interested in the fantasy life Bond leads in the novels,” Disler, an assistant professor of English, told writer Evan Johnston. “In almost every novel he takes several cold showers, smokes 70 cigarettes a day, hates killing in cold blood etc., and these things formed their own narrative for me.”
Disler became interested in writer Ian Fleming’s super spy while earning her doctorate at Ohio University during a study of mass culture through the lens of literary theory.
She teaches nonfiction writing at Ohio Wesleyan, including a course that examines several Bond books and films.
“I teach ‘Casino Royale,’ ‘From Russia with Love,’ ‘Goldfinger’ and ‘Dr. No’ – books and films,” Disler told Johnston. “[W]e read the novels and the films and deconstruct them, which complicates the BOND SAVES THE WORLD sense of 007 students usually come to class with. I use supplemental readings that continue to push the idea that Bond and The Girls and The Villains all have more in common than at first blush. …”
Read the full article, “Bond’s Many Cold Showers: Evan Johnston Interviews Michelle Disler.”
Ohio Wesleyan University is one of the nation’s premier small, private universities, with more than 90 undergraduate majors, sequences, and courses of study, and 23 NCAA Division III varsity sports. Located in Delaware, Ohio, just minutes north of Ohio’s capital and largest city, Columbus, the university combines a globally focused curriculum with off-campus learning and leadership opportunities that translate classroom theory into real-world practice. OWU’s close-knit community of 1,850 students represents 47 states and 57 countries. Ohio Wesleyan was named to the 2012 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with distinction, is featured in the book “Colleges That Change Lives,” and is included on the “best colleges” lists of U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review. Learn more at www.owu.edu.