Forrest Gump Explores More American History

“Bein’ a idiot is no box of chocolates,” said the protagonist of Winston Groom’s novel “Forrest Gump.” The mammoth man with a baby-sized brain, whose idiot-savant abilities leads him to careers that his 80-something IQ hasn’t prepared him for, is back.

“Gump & Co.” (Pocket Books, 240 pages, $22) is due in bookstores this week.

As philosophical as ever, Gump is now prone to statements such as, “Everybody makes mistakes, which is why they put a rubber mat around spittoons. But take my word for it - don’t never let nobody make a movie of your life’s story.”

Boosted by the popularity of Robert Zemeckis’ film adaptation, which earned Tom Hanks his second straight Best Actor Oscar, Groom’s first “Gump” book spent 21 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list, four weeks at No. 1.

This time around, Forrest and his son tramp through the 1980s and ‘90s, experiencing the fall of the Berlin Wall, the shenanigans of Oliver North and Ivan Boesky and, maybe most important, the creation of “New Coke.”

As author Groom explains, “When we left Forrest, it was the early ‘80s. That leaves me with 15 years of American history to play with. Just imagine that whole new box of chocolates.”

Looking at wildlife

If your interests run to Alaska wildlife, then you might want to check out the appropriately named “Alaska’s Wildlife” (Graphic Arts Center, 144 pages, $39.95). Wildlife photographer Tom Walker fills his book with 120 color photos of such critters as lynx, humpback whales, bald eagles, sea lions, grizzly bears, bull caribou and red salmon.

Along with his photos, Walker provides an essay that addresses both the nature of his work and the hardships he endured to capture these photos. For example, when told by an admiring fan how much fun it must have been to take a specific photo of a loon, Walker explained the reality:

“To get that picture, I had waited for days, not just hours. The wind blew across the tundra day after day without letup. Cold, snowy days alternated with sunny, warm ones filled with mosquito legions that turned the inside of the blind into a Dantesque hell. My food ran low, and I suffered from a miserable flulike illness that kept me in my tent for three days. When the wind finally died one night, at about 2 a.m., it did so for only two or three hours. The sky was clear; the arctic sun, unobserved. As the wind faded and the water stilled, the loon dozed. Expecting the wind to pick up at any time, my tension level increased by the moment. Warm light, golden grass, a gorgeous bird, a marvelous reflection in the water. If only the bird would open its eyes, look alert.”

Graphic Arts Center Publishing Co. is located in Portland. To order the book, call (503) 226-2402.

Taking a prize

Father James Dallen, chairman of Gonzaga University’s religious studies department, won first place at the Catholic Press Association’s awards banquet held recently in Los Angeles. According to the Inland Register, Dallen’s book, “The Dilemma of Priestless Sundays,” took first place in the liturgy category.

Jumping to conclusions

On first glance, “Jumping Skyward” (Cabinet Crest Books, 183 pages, $11.95 paperback) appears to be just another in a recent crop of books about wilderness firefighters.

But Idaho author Stan Tate had a more ambitious idea in mind. Subtitling his novel, “Wildfire and Wilderness; Men and God; Met In the Mountains of Idaho,” Tate used his roman a clef to both tell of his experiences as a smokejumper and to explore the spiritual issues involved in an occupation so dependent on the whims of nature.

As he writes in the voice of his protagonist, Ken Schuler, “I am both a smokejumper and a priest, and each career dances with the other to melodies embracing these quiet forests.”

As well as having been a smokejumper, Tate is an Episcopal priest who served for seven years as rector of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Moscow, Idaho. He also has been a juvenile judge and a university professor. He lives in Moscow.

A healing touch

Barry J. and Sara Casebolt are a husband-wife writing team from Post Falls who have published a book, “Sweetie Pie, More Than a Love Story,” that, Barry says, “is good medicine for people who are having trouble in their relationships, both as singles and as parents.”

“Sweetie Pie” costs $17.95 (plus $3.50 for shipping and handling). To order, call Rutledge Books in Bethel, Conn., at (800) 278-8533.

The reader board

Authors Lisa Vise and Martha Clark Cummings will offer a writer’s workshop at 7 p.m. Saturday at Auntie’s Bookstore, Main and Washington. Vise is author of the novel “Reckless Driver,” and Cummings won the ASTRAEA Lesbian Writers Fund Award for her collection of short stories, “Mono Lake.”

, DataTimes