Of God, Godzilla, and Galapagos: James Morrow’s Strange Fictions

Morrow’s latest book, Galapagos Regained, is about Chloe Bathurst, a former actress-turned-zookeeper for Charles Darwin who attempts an expedition to the Galapagos Islands in search of proof that her employer’s theories are accurate in the hope of winning the cash prize in a contest to prove (or disprove) the existence of god. Along the way, she clashes with Mormon colonists, shipwrecks, an erupting volcano, Anglican creationists, and numerous other obstacles in her attempt to gather her biological proof. It’s a riveting, beautiful adventure story, and a singular work in a bibliography full of them.
If you’ve never read Morrow before, any of the titles below would be an excellent place to start.

Shambling Towards Hiroshima
This war satire takes aim at both the military during World War II and the state of Hollywood in the ’40s and ’50s. It’s the story of Syms Thorley, a monster-movie actor known for his roles as a “shambler” (or wearer of bulky monster suits) in low-budget horror films. Thorley is hired by the government for a secret project in which he is asked portray a genetically-engineered, fire-breathing lizard to convince the Japanese forces in the Pacific to surrender before the Navy is forced to unleash the real thing to bring about the end of the war. The book skewers the paranoid attitudes of Hollywood and the US military, touching on the Hollywood Red Scare and lingering anti-semitism of the times. There’s also a sad, sweet, human quality in the way it draws parallels to the people who worked on the Manhattan Project and their resulting conflicted feelings, and Syms’s work on the fire-breathing lizard project.

Only Begotten Daughter
This modern twist on the life of Christ follows Julie Katz and her celibate father Murray from conception via inverse parthenogenesis at a fertility clinic to her eventual ascent to messiah. Julie’s story as she searches for her mother (that would be God) brings her into contact with the Devil, sends her on a tour of Hell to meet famed historical figures, and ends with her attempt to save the people of a totalitarian state ruled by an overzealous preacher with a vendetta against her. Bleak and occasionally violent, the book raises thought-provoking questions about God’s place in nature and the dangers of putting too much stock in faith. It’s a vivid and imaginative look at the Christ story through a modern lens, and well worth the time for that alone.

The Godhead Trilogy (Towing Jehovah/Blameless in Abaddon/The Eternal Footman)
The series Morrow is most known for, The Godhead Trilogy explores what happens when God drops dead, literally. With his two-mile-long body now firmly on the physical plane, humans are faced with undeniable proof god existed, and has now ceased to exist. The trilogy hits a nice balance between dystopia, dark comedy, and theological fantasy as the protagonists deal with angels, discuss the implications of eating God’s flesh when food runs scarce, and try to keep the world from descending into godless chaos (you know, more so). Morrow uses some bizarre imagery (God’s skull orbits the earth) to excellent effect, building a setting of near-constant absurdity.

The Last Witchfinder
In this picaresque novel, narrated by Sir Isaac Newton’s Principia Mathematica, the young daughter of the last Witchfinder General in England, having seen her aunt burned at the stake for her rational and philosophical beliefs, sets off on a quest to prove that witches are contrary to all logic, and therefore don’t exist. It’s a compelling narrative that also outlines the rise of science and rationalism as the world enters the Enlightenment Era and leaves behind some of its bizarre spiritual beliefs. Personally, as a former Romantic, I can’t stand the Enlightenment, but Morrow’s bizarre historical novel makes it immensely more palatable.

The Philosopher’s Apprentice
A strange novel about Mason Ambrose, a graduate student of philosophy who travels to a remote Florida outpost to tutor a reclusive family’s injured daughter. As the daughter has been left a blank slate, the main character’s job is to recalibrate her sense of ethics and morality by teaching her philosophy. But the ominously Isle de la Sangre estate isn’t quite what it seems, and as things grow progressively stranger, Mason begins to uncover exactly what his charge is, as well as the true motives of her geneticist mother. An unusual plot, occasional mad science, and discussions of ethical philosophy combine into a truly original and entertaining work.
Do you have Morrow in your marrow?