Synopses & Reviews
2010 Sturgeon Award winnerNebula and Hugo Award nominee
It is the early summer of 1945, and war reigns in the Pacific Rim with no end in sight. Back in the States, Hollywood B-movie star Syms Thorley lives in a very different world, starring as the Frankenstein-like Corpuscula and Kha-Ton-Ra, the living mummy. But the U.S. Navy has a new role waiting for Thorley, the role of a lifetime that he could never have imagined.
The top secret Knickerbocker Project is putting the finishing touches on the ultimate biological weapon: a breed of gigantic, fire-breathing, mutant iguanas engineered to stomp and burn cities on the Japanese mainland. The Navy calls upon Thorley to don a rubber suit and become the merciless Gorgantis and to star in a live drama that simulates the destruction of a miniature Japanese metropolis. If the demonstration succeeds, the Japanese will surrender, and many thousands of lives will be spared; if it fails, the horrible mutant lizards will be unleashed. One thing is certain: Syms Thorley must now give the most terrifyingly convincing performance of his life.
In the dual traditions of Godzilla as a playful monster and a symbol of the dawn of the nuclear era, Shambling Towards Hiroshima unexpectedly blends the destruction of World War II with the halcyon pleasure of monster movies.
Review
"The most provocative satiric voice in science fiction." The Washington Post
Review
"Sharp-edged, delightfully batty . . . skillfully mingling real and imaginary characters with genuinely hilarious moments." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Amply displays [Morrow's] ability to juggle absurdity, tragedy, irony, and outrage." Locus magazine
Review
"A stellar performance." Booklist
Review
This dark, wildly funny, politically incorrect satire is a winner.”
Nancy Kress, author of After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall
The most provocative satiric voice in science fiction.”
Washington Post
...widely regarded as the foremost satirist associated with the SF and fantasy field.”
SF Site
Morrow understands theology like a theologian and psychology like a psychologist, but he writes like an angel.”
Richard Elliott Friedman, author of The Hidden Book in the Bible
Americas best satirist.”
James Gunn, University of Kansas
Readers will never think of Godzillaor any other B-movie monsterin quite the same way, thats guaranteed.”
Green Man Review
...the strange brew of jolly satire and moral indignity of vintage Kurt Vonnegut....”
Time Out Chicago
Its called satire, and James Morrow does it brilliantly.”
SF Site
...tour-de-force of razor-sharp wit...packs a big wallop....”
SciFi Dimensions
Morrow is the only author who comes close to Vonneguts caliber. Like Vonnegut, Morrow shrouds his work in science fiction, but the real story is always mans infinite capacities for love and for evil.”
Paul Constant, The Stranger.com
...witty, playful...reminiscent of Watchmen....”
Strange Horizons
...a reminder that for all the shenanigans in his plots, [James Morrow is] first and foremost just a great writer.”
Bookgasm
In the tradition of Dr. Strangelove...even as youre laughing, youre not sure you should be.”
Omnivoracious.com
James Morrows bizarrely funny new book Shambling Towards Hiroshima turns the usual Godzilla paradigm on its head: Instead of being inspired by the horrors of nuclear war, Godzilla is its herald.”
io9.com
It takes a special sort of person to...imagine a real-world basis for Godzilla....”
John Scalzi, The Big Idea
Morrow liberally salts the yarn with real Hollywood horror-movie personnel, Jewish showbiz snark, and gut-wrenching regret for the bomb. As usual for Morrow, a stellar performance.”
Booklist
...sharp-edged, delightfully batty...skillfully mingling real and imaginary characters with genuinely hilarious moments.”
Kirkus
...a total hoot to read...recounting horrors both imagined and real with equal aplomb.”
The Agony Column
A ridiculously fun read...pitch-perfect satire.”
Fantasy and Science Fiction
This is what we have come to expect from Morrow: intelligent, thoughtful, dark comedy with real biteand in this case radioactive breath.”
New York Review of Science Fiction
Synopsis
In the tradition of Godzilla as both a playful romp and a parable of the dawn of the nuclear era, this original satire blends the destruction of World War II with the halcyon pleasure of monster movies. In the summer of 1945 war is reigning in the Pacific Rim, while in the U.S., Syms Thorley continues his life as a B-movie actor. But the U.S. Navy would like to use Thorley in their top-secret Knickerbocker Project, putting the finishing touches on the ultimate biological weapon: a breed of gigantic, fire-breathing, mutant iguanas. Thorley is to don a rubber suit that will transform him into the merciless Gorgantis and star in a film that simulates the destruction of a miniature Japanif the demonstration succeeds, the Japanese will surrender, sparing thousands of lives; if it fails, the mutant lizards will be unleashed. Godzilla devotees and history buffs alike will be fascinated by this conspiratorial secret history of a war, a weapon, and an unlikely hero who will have to give the most convincing performance of his life.
About the Author
James Morrow: James Morrow is the author of the World Fantasy Award-winning
Towing Jehovah and the
New York Times Notable Book
Blameless in Abaddon. His recent novels include
The Last Witchfinder, hailed by the
Washington Post as literary magic,” and
The Philosophers Apprentice, which received a rave review from
Entertainment Weekly. He is a master of the satiric and the surreal, a writer who has enjoyed comparison with Twain, Vonnegut, and Updike. Morrow lives in State College, Pennsylvania.