I read all of the James Bond books when I was 13 because they were 25¢ each at the thrift store around the corner from my house. My family read constantly, but never anything too highbrow. Mom was an Agatha Christie fan, while my dad was loyal only to Stephen King. I read the James Bond books because I wanted to read, but had no idea where to start.

I identified with James Bond because he came from a poor background. As a white trash boy, the James Bond series exposed me to a kind of British sophistication that didn't exist in my immediate world, but it gave me a kind of hope because I knew that James Bond wasn't born debonair, he had to learn it. Like old Playboy magazines, which taught me how to tie a basic skinny knot, make a sloe gin fizz, and appreciate Norman Mailer, James Bond books taught me that a person of the lower classes could grow to transcend class, and interact as equals with members of all classes, even if he was eventually going to kill them.

Of course, it also taught me that the only things lesbians need to make them straight is a real man, which I later found out is not true at all.