GOJIRO

'''Gojiro''' is the 1991 debut novel by former ''Esquire'' columnist Mark Jacobson. It reinterprets the Godzilla film series from the perspective of the daikaiju—not a fictional creature depicted on-screen via suitmation, but an irradiated varanid–turned–B-movie star named 'Gojiro' (an homage to ''Gojira'', the Japanese name for Godzilla). Gojiro, a freak mutation with a cynical worldview, suffers the pain of solitude as well as several maladies experienced by entertainers, including drug abuse and suicidal tendencies. The story revolves around his adventures with human friend Komodo, a scientific genius scarred as a child by the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, as they attempt to fulfill their "Triple Ring Promise" to bring about world peace. The odyssey takes them from their home on Radioactive Island—also home to several children, called Atoms, suffering from radiation sickness—to several locations in Hollywood and the Trinity site in New Mexico.
The novel is often compared to John Gardner's earlier novel ''Grendel'', a retelling of the ''Beowulf'' epic through the eyes of the monster.

Contents

Editions

External links

Editions

★ ISBN 0-87113-396-2 (hardcover, Pub Group West, 1991)

★ ISBN 0-553-29743-0 (paperback, Bantam Books, 1993)

★ ISBN 0-8021-3539-0 (paperback, Pub Group West, 1998)

★ ISBN 1-930815-35-2 (e-book, 2000)

External links

★ Sacks, David (1991). "How Godzilla Overcame Despair". ''The New York Times''. Retrieved January 23, 2006.

★ Anisfield, Nancy (1995). "Godzilla/Gojiro: Evolution of the Nuclear Metaphor". ''Journal of Popular Culture'' '29' 3: 53–62. Retrieved January 23, 2006.

★ Gojiro at eBookMall