British doctors have concluded that James Bond is an alcoholic .
BBC reports: “Doctors in Derby and Nottingham sat down to read the 14 Bond novels in their spare time.With a notebook at hand they charted every day and every drink.Excluding the 36 days Bond was in prison, hospital or rehab, the spy downed 1,150 units of alcohol in 88 days.It works out at 92 units a week – about five vodka martinis a day and four times the recommended maximum intake for men in the UK.”
A heavy-drinking Bond couldn’t keep up the lifestyle depicted in Ian Fleming’s novels: “Patrick Davies, a consultant in paediatric intensive care at Nottingham University Hospitals, told the BBC: ‘You wouldn’t want this person defusing a nuclear bomb.’ . . . He said Bond would be classified in the ‘top whack’ of problem drinkers and would be at high risk of liver damage, an early death and impotence. ‘So he might be practising safe sex after all,’ said Dr Davies.”
Opening scene for future Bond film: Daniel Craig sitting in a circle of bedraggled men and women, saying, “Bond, James Bond, and I’m an alcoholic.”
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.
First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.
But we can’t do it without readers like you.
Our goal: Raise $150,000 by November 1 to sustain First Things in the year ahead.
Your gift anchors readers in the permanent things.
Make your Fall Campaign gift now using the button below.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Giovanni Del Piero, Director of the Editor’s Circle, at gdelpiero@firstthings.com or 212-627-1985.
The Church in the Age of Therapy
In 1966, Philip Rieff wrote in The Triumph of the Therapeutic that “Religious man was born to…
Canada’s Deadliest Blind Spot
On September 20, the Daily Mail ran a story with the provocative headline, “Our 83-year-old Christian grandmother…
The Faithful Joy of Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen
Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen seem to have had little in common. She favored rhinestones; he wore…