Gump and Co. humor tiresome and banal. Gump and Co. Gump & Co. (or Forrest Gump and Co.) is a 1995 novel by Winston Groom. It is the sequel to his novel "Forrest Gump" (1986), and the Academy Award-winning film of the same name released in 1994, with Tom Hanks. It was written to chronicle Forrest's life throughout the 1980s. On the first page, Forrest Gump tells readers "Don't never let nobody make a movie of your life's story," though "Whether they get it right or wrong, it don't matter." However, the character is not an idiot savant, as in the first book,
Forrest Gump (novel) and plays high school football. Miss Henderson, with whom Forrest is infatuated, gives him reading lessons. He reads Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and two other books that he does not remember. While he enjoys the books, he does not do well on tests. He gains popularity as a football player, making the All State team. When Forrest is called to the principal's office, he meets Bear Bryant, who asks if he'd considered playing college football. After high school, Forrest takes a test at a local army recruitment center, and is told he is "Temporarily Deferred." Forrest and