Gump & Co. [Hardcover]

Winston Groom (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1995

Struggling to make a life for his young son when the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company takes a dive, Forrest Gump shares a second series of offbeat adventures that entangle him with the Coca-Cola company and Oliver North. 500,000 first printing. $300,000 ad/promo. Tour.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The continuing adventures of You-Know-Who.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

An award-winning movie made from an originally disappointing novel (Forrest Gump, LJ 3/1/86) cries out for a sequel: so here it is. Groom gives us the last decade of Gump's life, including the 1995 Academy AwardsR ceremony with the movie sweeping the OscarsR and Gump getting a special award as "The Most Lovable Certified Idiot in America." Along the way he becomes involved in Iran-Contra, insider trading, the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and Desert Storm. Tapping into another trend, Groom gives Gump an angel to guide him; Jenny, the love of his life and mother of Little Forrest, lived on in the first Gump novel but died in the movie, so Groom kills her by page 15 and brings her back at opportune times. Little Forrest is along for some of this ride, usually with ideas for successful ventures, including the oyster company of the title. (Once again, shellfish from Louisiana save Gump's financial hide.) As a book, this is a media event, so expect demand, with a movie to follow-and maybe even an oyster cookbook.
--Michele Leber, Fairfax Cty. P.L., Va.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Atria Books (September 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671521705
• ISBN-13: 978-0671521707
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (60 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #361,546 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Shockingly bad, October 16, 2005

By 

Haywood M. Gelman - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Gump & Co. (Mass Market Paperback)

I bought both "Forrest Gump" and "Gump & Co." at the same time. After reading "Forrest Gump", I was quite excited to read the sequel. I was so excited in fact, that as soon as I put down "Forrest Gump", I started reading "Gump & Co." that same night. What a shocking disappointment! I always wondered why there was never a sequel to the movie, so I searched the net to discover that Winston Groom decided not to license the story. After hearing his tale of woe and learning about "Hollywood Accounting" (Winston Groom never saw a dime from the $380 million that the Forrest Gump movie made, due to what should be an illegal accounting practice known as Hollywood Accounting.) , I was not surprised he would not sell the story. It seemed to me that he took out his anger on Hollywood by using his pen to cut down all those with whom he has issue - politicians, hollywood actors and directors, and the military. On the other hand, he casts a happy light on those he loves most- simple people, simple things, and those with internal character (flaws and all). What it produced was a main character that, despite his best efforts to the contrary, is unable to grow as a person until the very end of the book. The whole story was formulaic, with hardly a surprise until the very end.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Brings Good Laughs But Not Much Else, February 16, 2004

By 

Young Jin Choi (Evanston, IL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Gump & Co. (Mass Market Paperback)

One of the most cleverly entertaining novels of the mid 80¡¯s was the original book by Winston Groom entitled ¡®Forrest Gump¡¯. However, that name was made famous not by the source novel but by the Academy award winning film that was based on it. It was not long before people begged for a sequel and Groom has acknowledged his fans, bringing the ever hilarious character back into the hearts of readers.
¡®Gump & Co.¡¯ is much of the same novel as the original, placing the unaware main character into various unbelievably comical situations. These include his involvement in the illegal Iran-Contra negotiations, his major accidental role in causing the riot that brought down the Berlin Wall, and his success in taking Saddam Hussein hostage during the Gulf Wars. Like the original novel, it tells the tale from the eyes of Forrest Gump and thus, Groom once again uses the narrator¡¯s dim perception of the world to bring even more humor and irony into the book as well as to address some major political issues concerning the war.
The one thing that brings this book down is that no matter how clever the novel turned out to be, most of the humorous situations presented in this book seems merely rehashed and recycled from the original novel and so no longer feels fresh. The emotional power from the first book is mostly gone and replaced with more toilet humor and bizarre nonsense. The outcome is an entertaining read that is something that all of the fans of the original novel can dig into and have many good laughs out of. However, it fails to be emotionally satisfying to the readers. While, the book does try to portray Forrest becoming a father, it ultimately sacrifices most of its length for more hilarity. Ironically, this is exactly what makes most movie sequels today just plain horrible. We can only hope a film won¡¯t be developed from this novel since it¡¯s already suffering from the infamous sequel syndrome on its own.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not worth 1 star. What a waste of time!, February 7, 2005

By 

Laura M. Obrien - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Gump & Co. (Mass Market Paperback)

I thoroughly enjoyed reading "Forrest Gump" as well as seeing the movie. In fact, I still own copies of both. So when I found "Gump & Co." at a local used books store I was excited at the prospect of wrapping myself into the delightful world of Forrest Gump once again. Hey, there is even a review from Kinky Friedman right on the front cover so this must be good! How wrong that turned out to be! Forrest becomes the fall guy for every down turn event of the 80s decade. From New Coke to Iran Contra to the Exxon Valdez to meeting Tom Hanks (wherein Hanks blabs off some "Gumpisms" -- ugh!!!) to accidentally capturing Sadam Hussein. Give me a break! When the author had Forrest & Little Forrest getting tossed into the White Water scandal I finally decided I had had enough and I jumped to the last 2 pages. This was a waste of time. I have no doubt why there isn't a sequel to the Oscar winning movie.