Tuesdays Tomes: Food of the Gods and How It Came to Earth by H.G.Wells

Tuesdays Tomes is a weekly book review of mainly vintage books.

The Food of the Gods and How It Came to Earth by H.G.Wells

Scientists Bensington and Redford team up to create a wonder growth formula. First they give it to chicks-just to see what happens-at an experimental farm in the English countryside. The chicks soon grow to gigantic size.

The experimental farm however is a bit of a hap-dash thing-they simply hire an old couple (Mr. and Mrs. Skinner) to feed the chicks with the wonder powder. The Food of course ends up feeding much more than the intended chicks and soon huge wasps, weeds and even rats are causing havoc in neighboring towns.

Scientist Redford decides to give the food to his newborn son… what was he thinking! Mrs. Skinner leaves the farm in a hurry because of fear of the rats but not without taking two cans of the food with her…what for? Well, to give to her newborn grandson, of course. You can see where this is going…

This 1904 satiric novel is very funny at times-I laughed out loud- and while not as well known as other H.G. Wells books, has been mined by popular culture for many hilarious/horror movies. In 1976 a not very good movie by the same name, Food of the Gods, takes off from the early chapters of the book. And who can forget those two classics, “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes” and Attack of the Killer Tomatoes 2”-which starred a very young George Clooney? My favorite is the wonderful 50s movie “Attack of the 50 Foot Woman” and my favorite scene is her looming over the screen at the drive-in.

This book was also published as a comic book (graphic novel)… I used the cover of the comic book for this post’s pix.

If you’re in the mood for a good chuckle and quite a bit of adventure you can download this free audio book here or the e-book in pdf. or kindle here. The audiobook was read by Alex C. Telander at a furious pace that while annoying at first grew to seem totally appropriate for this harebrained tale.