About the Book
Godzilla emerged from the sea to devastate Tokyo in the now-classic 1954 film, creating a global sensation and launching one of the world's most successful movie and media franchises. Awakened and transformed by nuclear weapons testing, Godzilla serves as a terrifying metaphor for humanity's shortsighted destructiveness: this was the intent of Shigeru Kayama, the science fiction writer who drafted the 1954 original film and its first sequel and, in 1955, published these novellas. Although the Godzilla films have been analyzed in detail by cultural historians, film scholars, and generations of fans, Kayama's two Godzilla novellas have never been available in English. This book finally provides English-speaking fans and critics the original texts. The novellas reveal valuable insights into Kayama's vision, feature plots that differ from the films, and display the author's antinuclear, proenvironmental convictions. Kayama's fiction depicts Godzilla as engaging in guerrilla-style warfare against humanity, which has allowed the destruction of the natural world through its irresponsible, immoral perversion of science. As human activity continues to cause mass extinctions and rapid climatic change, Godzilla provides a fable for the Anthropocene, powerfully reminding us that nature will fight back against humanity's onslaught.
About the Author :
Shigeru Kayama (1904-1975) was a science fiction writer and scenarist whose early stories about monsters and mutated sea creatures attracted the attention of Toho Studios, which asked him to draft the first two Godzilla films. The film Half Human by Toho Studios was also based on one of his stories, and he contributed to the screenplay for the Toho film The Mysterians. Kaipo Schwab is an actor, director, and producer who has worked at the Roundabout, Manhattan Theatre Club, the Public Theater, Second Stage, Playwrights Horizons, Hartford Stage, Cincinnati Playhouse, GeVa Theater, Pan Asian Rep, and New York Theatre Workshop. In 2004 he directed part of ABC's Cultural Diversity Showcase. His film and television credits include Anesthesia, Fair Game, The Royal Tenenbaums, It Could Happen to You, All My Children, The Protector, Law & Order, New York Undercover, Can Openers, Rescue Me, and Cosby. He can also be seen on Netflix's Orange Is the New Black playing the role of prison medic, Igme Dimaguiba. Audiobook credits include Jimmy Breslin's The Good Rat (2009 Benjamin Franklin Award winner), Walter Dean Myers' We Are America: A Tribute from the Heart (2013 Audie nomination) and Marilyn Singer's Full Moon Is Rising. Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, he attended the British American Drama Academy and is a graduate of Boston University College of Fine Arts. Kaipo and his wife, Hope, live in New York City with their son, Giovanni, and their one-eyed pug, Wink. Kaipo Schwab is an actor, director, and producer who has worked at the Roundabout, Manhattan Theatre Club, the Public Theater, Second Stage, Playwrights Horizons, Hartford Stage, Cincinnati Playhouse, GeVa Theater, Pan Asian Rep, and New York Theatre Workshop. In 2004 he directed part of ABC's Cultural Diversity Showcase. His film and television credits include Anesthesia, Fair Game, The Royal Tenenbaums, It Could Happen to You, All My Children, The Protector, Law & Order, New York Undercover, Can Openers, Rescue Me, and Cosby. He can also be seen on Netflix's Orange Is the New Black playing the role of prison medic, Igme Dimaguiba. Audiobook credits include Jimmy Breslin's The Good Rat (2009 Benjamin Franklin Award winner), Walter Dean Myers' We Are America: A Tribute from the Heart (2013 Audie nomination) and Marilyn Singer's Full Moon Is Rising. Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, he attended the British American Drama Academy and is a graduate of Boston University College of Fine Arts. Kaipo and his wife, Hope, live in New York City with their son, Giovanni, and their one-eyed pug, Wink.
