Writing Is Like a Box of Chocolates
- jsdomino
- Oct 4
- 2 min read
The failure and success of an author depend on many things.
What happens when you write a book that you love, but the critics contradict your inspiration? When dismal sales begin to call into question your status as a writer. Are you a failure?
While it may be a bit presumptuous to assume the critics are wrong, many times great work is not immediately recognized by the masses.
One case in point is the book Forrest Gump. The book written by Winston Francis Groom Jr. is a fable about a young boy who suffered from mental disabilities. It is a fictional story with a complex character who achieves success despite his disability. But the book, Forrest Gump, written in its unusual dialect and quirky humor, was at first a bust.
Published in 1986, the book was a financial failure from the outset. It sold poorly for the first few years before disappearing entirely from distribution in the late 1980s.
A 1986 book review in Kirkus Reviews¹ called the book “a stumbling, droopy-drawered attempt at a picaresque novel.”
Publishers Weekly² simply said, “Groom has written better books.”
Was The Author — Winston Groom — A Failure?
Groom, by all measures of achievement, was a successful author.
Prior to Forrest Gump, Winston Groom had published several successful novels.
He also authored a nonfiction book, Conversations with the Enemy, in 1982. That book about an American soldier who escapes from a POW camp, returns home to the U.S., and is later arrested for desertion, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.
Yet something about Forrest Gump did not click with readers.
A Different Point Of View
It wasn’t until screenwriter Eric R. Roth saw the humor in Forrest Gump, did the story achieve notoriety. Roth adapted the book into a screenplay. While Roth made significant changes to Gump’s character — in the book, Gump was an astronaut, a professional wrestler, and a chess player — the basic premise remained the same.
We all know what happened. The movie was a phenomenal success.
Based on the tremendous success of the movie, it would be easy to assume that the novel’s author — Winston Groom — would share in the movie’s financial success. According to credible sources, Groom never received any money for the use of his novel as the basis for the script. A second failure for Groom.
Success At Last
Fortunately for Groom, Lady Luck shone down on the author. After the success of the film, demand for the novel reached best-seller status, and it sold millions of copies worldwide.
The character Forrest Gump is now known across the globe. For example, in 2016, while visiting Hong Kong, we had lunch at a Bubba Gump Shrimp Company restaurant atop Victoria Peak, the highest peak in Hong Kong. Not exactly the place you would expect Forrest Gump to appear.
For that notoriety, we can thank the producers of the movie.
For the character and story, we can thank the author, Winston Groom, who was anything but a failure.
[1]: “a stumbling, droopy-drawered attempt at a picaresque novel.” https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/a/winston-groom-3/forrest-gump/
[2]: “Groom has written better books.” https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780385231343
Comments