Forrest Gump
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4.3 • 300 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
The modern classic that inspired the beloved movie starring Tom Hanks.
Six foot six, 242 pounds, and possessed of a scant IQ of 70, Forrest Gump is the lovable, surprisingly savvy hero of this classic comic tale. His early life may seem inauspicious, but when the University of Alabama’s football team drafts Forrest and makes him a star, it sets him on an unbelievable path that will transform him from Vietnam hero to world-class Ping-Pong player, from wrestler to entrepreneur. With a voice all his own, Forrest is telling all in a madcap romp through three decades of American history.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
There is a joyously madcap feeling to the first half of this unusual novel, but then the absurdity gathers its own speed and begins to run dangerously amok. Groom's picaresque tale is told by an idiot, the Gump of the title, and follows his outrageous life from early stardom for Bear Bryant's Crimson Tide, through a tour in Vietnam and across the broad canvas of America during the '70s and '80s. Like most literary idiots, Forrest Gump is a lot smarter than the people he encounters. He is also no ordinary idiot. Instead, he is a mathematical idiot savant, capable of outperforming NASA's on-board computers, which is why Gump ends up on a space mission with an ape and the first woman astronauta mission that ends in the forests of New Guinea where Gump meets a Yale-tutored cannibal. All this takes place after Gump has met Lyndon Johnson and saved Chairman Mao from drowning, which is to say that this is a very broad satire. While there is much on-target humor here, Groom, author of Better Times Than These, has written better books than this.
Customer Reviews
See AllA great story, best told on film
Before even reading this book, it should be noted that this book is nothing like its film adaptation. Although many story elements differ from the book and movie, both are great stories, however, I personally prefer the movie. The endings are one of the greatest differences between the two. If you like the movie, you should read this book, just to see where the amazing story of Forrest Gump began.
Cool story
Way better than the movie. You can see where they had to make the movie what it was because this book would have been a tough screen play…but very good read nonetheless
Forrest Gump
I lost IQ points reading this.
Absolutely the dumbest book I’ve ever read.
It’s amazing that the movie company made such a great movie out of this book.
The movie company should have sued the author and got their money back.