# Can anyone identify a book? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [November 20, 2023, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-a-book/993430 "2023-11-20T17:51:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2023, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-a-book/993430/1 "2023-11-20T17:51:17Z")
It would have been from the 1950s and featured a female agent(?) working outside the law, mostly, a bit like Simon Templar. She had a trusty male sidekick of course and he made a telescopic bow that she used to kill her opponents silently. One of her favourite ploys was to pop up bare-breasted and shoot them while they were distracted. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2023, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-a-book/993430/2 "2023-11-20T23:02:03Z")
Modesty Blaise. [https://www.fictiondb.com/series/modesty-blaise-peter-odonnell~5642.htm](https://www.fictiondb.com/series/modesty-blaise-peter-odonnell~5642.htm) ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2023, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-a-book/993430/3 "2023-11-20T23:04:27Z")
If that’s the right answer, can I ask about a book I’m trying to identify? ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2023, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-a-book/993430/4 "2023-11-20T23:16:34Z")
I am quite sure that is the right answer. As a teen reader I would never forget the bare-breasted trickery. Here’s a bit more about her skills: [The magnificent Modesty Blaise](https://katemacdonald.net/2015/09/14/the-magnificent-modesty-blaise/) > On weaponry Fleming is outclassed by O’Donnell, I think, because both Modesty and Willie Garvin are expert in every kind of combat invented by humans, and probably some that O’Donnell invented himself. We hear a lot about throwing knives and a special kind of throwing and bashing weapon that lurks in the back of Modesty’s hairdo. O’Donnell is really good on ingenious places for hiding weapons: time and again Modesty strips off her clothes so she can extract the components of a bomb, or a radio transmitter, or a bow and arrows, from her underwear or her skirt. They’re kept in the seams and under false linings. It’s a good thing airport scanners hadn’t been invented then. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2023, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-a-book/993430/5 "2023-11-20T23:30:58Z")
OK, well, my book reads at though it’s a Nick Hornby book. It’s about this guy who kind of has a crush on a celebrity. Her “candid” photos get leaked and he, uh, likes her even more. Then, somehow, they end up meeting and dating for a while. I remember it being a fun, funny book to read, again in the style of a Nick Hornby book, but I can’t remember the title or author. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2023, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-a-book/993430/6 "2023-11-21T11:40:47Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > Modesty Blaise. Yay - that’s the one. Thanks very much. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2023, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-a-book/993430/7 "2023-11-21T15:10:33Z")
**Can anyone identify a book?** This reminded me of a great joke I heard from some comic I never heard of again. Pick any deep south state for this one: > [@](#): > > I got arrested in Mississippi… for readin’. But they had to let me go because nobody could prove what I had was a book. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2023, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-a-book/993430/8 "2023-11-22T22:13:09Z")
You people are too good. I remember that the walking in topless was called “The Nailer”.