Shambling Towards Hiroshima [Archive]

D_Davis

06-11-2009, 02:36 PM

Wanted to draw some special attention to this book because I think a lot of people here will like it:

http://scifiwire.com/assets_c/2009/02/ShamblingTowardsHiroshima-thumb-300x481-12984.jpg

Set during WWII, it's about a B-movie actor in Hollywood hired by the US government to make a propaganda film in which he dons a rubber monster suite and destroys a model-sized Japanese city. The government plans on showing the movie to Japan threatening them that unless they surrender they will unleash more of the giant lizard monsters.

I started it this morning and I was actually bummed out when my commute ended; I didn't want to put it down. It hilarious, incredibly well written, and has a ton of references for film fans.

High recommended.

lovejuice

06-11-2009, 02:37 PM

nice and nice cover too. wonder why i haven't heard or seen this before.

D_Davis

06-11-2009, 02:41 PM

nice and nice cover too. wonder why i haven't heard or seen this before.

It came out a couple of months ago. A friend of mine told me to buy it, and I did - sight unseen. I'm easy that way.

I've never read Morrow before, but apparently some people think he's the best satirist working in the US today. I'm really looking forward to checking out his other books. He's been favorably compared to Twain, Vonnegut, and Adams.

lovejuice

06-11-2009, 02:55 PM

He's been favorably compared to Twain, Vonnegut, and Adams.
which adams? the bunny or the galaxy guy?

D_Davis

06-11-2009, 03:02 PM

which adams? the bunny or the galaxy guy?

Douglas - Hitchhikers.

D_Davis

06-11-2009, 03:10 PM

I just checked Amazon.

This book is already out of print. It just came out in February 2009.

Every single one of his books is now OOP.

Morrow is the winner of multiple genre and lit awards - how does this happen?

Once again I've discovered another author I love that is OOP. Damnit.

megladon8

06-11-2009, 03:16 PM

That does look awesome, D. I'll try my best to get my hands on a copy.

You should check out "Monster 1959".

D_Davis

06-11-2009, 07:33 PM

So, apparently it's not OOP

http://www.amazon.com/Shambling-Towards-Hiroshima-James-Morrow/dp/1892391848

But if you search for it another way, it comes up saying it is OOP.

Very odd.

D_Davis

06-12-2009, 02:41 PM

This book is absolutely brilliant. The funniest thing I've read since Hitchhikers.

It's Wag the Dog meets Godzilla and Dr. Strangelove.

megladon8

06-15-2009, 08:10 PM

My copy arrived today.

Looking forward to getting back into reading. Hope this does it for me.

D_Davis

06-15-2009, 09:02 PM

My copy arrived today.

Looking forward to getting back into reading. Hope this does it for me.

I think it will, it's pretty amazing.

I think there are a ton of people here that would absolutely love it.

If you like Dr. Strangelove, Godzilla, B-movies, or Wag the Dog at all, you will like this book, especially if you like more than one of those things AND you like a well written, engaging story.

I'm really looking forward to reading Towing Jehovah, by the same author. In it, God dies, and his 2-mile long body falls from heaven and lands in the ocean. The Vatican hires a tugboat captain to tow God's body to a cave to give it a proper burial.

megladon8

06-15-2009, 09:16 PM

I'm really looking forward to reading Towing Jehovah, by the same author. In it, God dies, and his 2-mile long body falls from heaven and lands in the ocean. The Vatican hires a tugboat captain to tow God's body to a cave to give it a proper burial.

That sounds pretty amazing, too.

If his books read as well as the concepts sound, I may have found a new author to follow.

megladon8

06-15-2009, 09:20 PM

D_Davis

06-15-2009, 09:24 PM

Yeah - I plan on reading all three.

megladon8

06-15-2009, 09:24 PM

Yeah - I plan on reading all three.

Me too.

D_Davis

06-15-2009, 09:29 PM

Me too.

:pritch:

D_Davis

06-17-2009, 02:34 PM

Almost done with this, and I'm prepared to call it a masterpiece of satire. As funny and well told as any story I've read. It's absolutely brilliant, and also quite touching. Underneath its satirical surface is a great deal of humanity, and Morrow expertly captures the romantic side of filmmaking; he deftly unearths the genuine sadness often hidden in an industry of false fronts and put ons.

It would be a great book to read aloud in a group setting.

This thing should be huge, especially among fans of great fiction and cinema.

jenniferofthejungle

06-17-2009, 04:56 PM

I'm really excited about this one. I'll be borrowing it soon.

D_Davis

06-29-2009, 02:25 PM

If I were a rich man, I'd buy every regular poster on Match Cut a copy of this book, but alas I am not, and so you will have to get one yourselves.

But please, read this book.

It is absolutely glorious.

The beginning had me in stitches, the middle had me captivated, and the ending had me in tears. It is, without a doubt, one of the greatest stories I've ever read.

The satire is used for more than laughs, more than irony, and more than sarcasm. Morrow simultaneously makes statements about WWII, the Hollywood film industry, and about genre fans; it's incredibly smart and well written, each note is hit with perfection.

Shambling Towards Hiroshima is an absolutely brilliant piece of American literature.

trotchky

06-30-2009, 07:56 AM

Well, I am sold. I will have to put it on "the list."

Also, is the title a reference to that one Joan Didion book?

D_Davis

06-30-2009, 02:52 PM

Also, is the title a reference to that one Joan Didion book?

I don't know.

trotchky

07-01-2009, 05:27 AM

I don't know.

The book is called Slouching Towards Bethlehem btw. I never read it but it's on my desk and the title is pretty cool.

Kurosawa Fan

07-01-2009, 05:31 AM

Looked for this tonight at Barnes and Noble, but no dice. I'll have to order it sometime.

D_Davis

07-01-2009, 12:49 PM

Looked for this tonight at Barnes and Noble, but no dice. I'll have to order it sometime.

I've only ever seen one copy in a store - the one I bought. How can a book sell if it's not on the shelves?

Kurosawa Fan

07-01-2009, 01:08 PM

I've only ever seen one copy in a store - the one I bought. How can a book sell if it's not on the shelves?

I think this quite frequently. There are books I've wanted to read for years that B&N just doesn't carry. They have limited space, so I understand why they don't carry more obscure titles, but it's a bummer because I usually just stop by there on a whim. I very rarely order books online for some reason.

Mara

07-02-2009, 02:47 PM

I very rarely order books online for some reason.

I looooooooooooooove ordering online. It's so much easier for me than trying to organize a trip to the bookstore, which I could really only do on a weekend, and even then would be tricky.

Kurosawa Fan

07-02-2009, 03:08 PM

I looooooooooooooove ordering online. It's so much easier for me than trying to organize a trip to the bookstore, which I could really only do on a weekend, and even then would be tricky.

Well, Barnes and Noble is literally two minutes from my house. Heck, it's really within walking distance if I'm ambitious. And it's on my way home from work. Really, it's a danger to my finances.

Mara

07-02-2009, 03:14 PM

Well, Barnes and Noble is literally two minutes from my house. Heck, it's really within walking distance if I'm ambitious. And it's on my way home from work. Really, it's a danger to my finances.

This is why I never tried to work in a bookstore. I would have gone bankrupt.

D_Davis

07-02-2009, 03:20 PM

I buy used books from 'real' book stores, and new books from Amazon.

I like to support the small used book shops, and I love Half Price books, and when it comes to new stuff Amazon always has the best selection and prices. However, with used stuff on Amazon, it's usually cheaper to buy locally because of the shipping charges.

It's a win-win-win, except for stores like B&N - they lose.

Kurosawa Fan

07-02-2009, 03:21 PM

This is why I never tried to work in a bookstore. I would have gone bankrupt.

I did go bankrupt as a teen managing a Suncoast. I'd basically just hand over my entire paycheck on Friday and put a stack of DVDs on the counter.

Kurosawa Fan

07-02-2009, 03:23 PM

It's a win-win-win, except for stores like B&N - they lose.

They're the ones that are hurting right now too. Not that you should change things for their benefit. The B&N by my house laid off people and reduced their hours earlier this year. I wonder how much the Kindle and the like are playing a part. I know my parents used to go there all the time and now they both have a Kindle and don't go nearly as often anymore.

D_Davis

07-02-2009, 04:22 PM

Winston*

07-03-2009, 05:11 AM

Started this book yesterday, finished it today. Don't really see the masterpiece here that you do, but I liked it. The ending is quite poignant.

trotchky

07-03-2009, 05:39 AM

The B&N I went to today had three copies. I bought them all.

No just kidding I only bought one.

lovejuice

07-03-2009, 10:26 AM

Yeah, I've just never seen much benefit to B&N, besides wasting time while at the mall or something. They rarely have what I'm looking for, of course I am into a lot of hardcore genre stuff, a lot of it from the small press, and so I don't expect them to stock it. I do like their self-published stuff though - those classics and anthologies are amazing and cheap, and probably the best way to get that stuff.

The Complete Lovecraft for only $15 is probably the most affordable and awesome book of all time. Thanks B&N!
i'm about to say don't be too harsh on chained bookstores. they have a real lot of books -- understandably might not be toward your hard-cored taste -- and enough space to sit in and chill out. and as you mention, the B&N classics are awesome. they all have very nice covers. (much better than Borders classics.)

D_Davis

07-07-2009, 08:50 PM

Started this book yesterday, finished it today. Don't really see the masterpiece here that you do, but I liked it. The ending is quite poignant.

Such is the fear of loving something so much and recommending it to others; it's something I think of a lot as a champion of the things that I gravitate towards. Art is such a personal thing, that I am sure I may be the only one to love this book as much as I do, but at least you liked it.

Mara

07-13-2009, 08:50 PM

I bought it. (Overpriced, BTW. $15 for 170 pages.) But I've read the first third, and so far it's charming.

D_Davis

07-13-2009, 09:18 PM

I bought it. (Overpriced, BTW. $15 for 170 pages.) But I've read the first third, and so far it's charming.

Normal price for a trade PB - but yes, normal price = overpriced these days when books are concerned.

I've seen MM for $9.99!

Mara

07-13-2009, 10:57 PM

Normal price for a trade PB - but yes, normal price = overpriced these days when books are concerned.

Yeah, but normal trade paperbacks are two to three times as big as this one. I think $10 would have been reasonable.

But who cares! Happy Birthday to me.

D_Davis

07-13-2009, 11:02 PM

Yeah, but normal trade paperbacks are two to three times as big as this one. I think $10 would have been reasonable.

I've paid a lot more, for a lot less, especially in trade size, and especially with the small press.

However, I'm just glad that these ~170 pages are more than worth it. Better than most 700+ page books I've paid the same for.

:)

Qrazy

07-15-2009, 09:08 AM

Reading more about "Towing Jehovah". It's actually the first part of a trilogy.

The second is called "Blameless in Abaddon", in which God's body is used as the main attraction in a theme park.

The third is called "The Eternal Footman", in which the only part of God's body left is his skull, which is now in orbit around Earth.

Yeah that sounds awesome... although I don't understand how the skull got into orbit around the planet... but I'm sure the books will explain it to me.

Mara

07-20-2009, 01:36 AM

Finished it. Nice and funny, with a tonal shift towards darkness in the last quarter that was jarring but added a needed dash of gravitas.

Winston*

07-22-2009, 03:57 AM

Hey Davis have you read The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril?

Malmont's debut thriller reads like pages torn from the pulp magazines to which it pays nostalgic homage. It's 1937, and the nation's two top pulp writers—William Gibson, author of novels featuring caped crime fighter "The Shadow," and Lester Dent, the creator of do-gooder hero Doc Savage—are trying to solve real-life mysteries that each hopes will give him bragging rights as the world's best yarn spinner. Gibson follows rumors that pulp colleague H.P. Lovecraft was murdered to the fog-shrouded Providence, R.I., waterfront. Dent tracks clues to an impossible killing through the bowels of New York's Chinatown. As the two adventures dovetail, they spawn sinuous subplots involving tong wars, secret chemical warfare, pirate mercenaries, kidnappings, revolution in China and weird science run amok. Lovecraft, L. Ron Hubbard, Louis L'Amour and Chester Himes all play prominent supporting roles and offer piquant observations on the penny-a-word writing life that conjure a colorful sense of time and place. Like the pulpsters he reveres, Malmont doesn't let the facts get in the way of his storytelling, and the result is a fun, if wildly improbable, pulp joyride.

D_Davis

07-22-2009, 04:33 AM

No, but that sounds cool. Thanks for the tip. Hopefully it lives up to its name-checks.

I've got a book called Move Under Ground, by Nick Mamatas, in which Jack Kerouac, Neal Cassady, and William S. Burroughs face off against Chtulhu. Haven't read it yet, but it sounds cool.