The original novelization of King Kong, featuring a new introduction by Jack Thorne, the Tony-winning playwright of King Kong: Alive on Broadway, and cover art by the celebrated Olly Moss The giant primeval gorilla King Kong is one of the most recognized images in our culture. So great is the mighty Kong’s hold on the popular imagination that his story has inspired an entire cinematic universe. Now the legendary monster comes to the stage in the brand-new musical King Kong: Alive on Broadway. Beneath King Kong’s cultural significance, however, is a tense and surprisingly tender story. One cannot help but be frightened by Kong’s uncontrollable fury, be saddened over the giant’s capture, mistreatment, and exploitation by venal showmen, or sympathize with the beast’s ill-fated affection for the down-on-her-luck starlet Ann Darrow. With a foreword by Mark Cotta Vaz, the preeminent biographer of Merian C. Cooper, producer of the original 1933 classic film.

King Kong remains one of the most enduring icons of American popular culture - a massively destructive but curiously sympathetic giant gorilla whose rampage through New York City suggests, on a psychological level, the re-emergence of repressed desire. This novelization captures the pathos, drama, and horror of this story of the beast who loved a human beauty. The action begins with the controversial expedition of Hollywood filmmaker Carl Denham to Skull Island as he pursues a mythical monster. Enticing Kong with beautiful starlet Ann Darrow, Denham manages to chain the beast and bring him to New York, where he escapes to terrorize an entire city while pursuing the woman he loves. Expanded from the original story by Merian Cooper and British mystery maven Edgar Wallace, this version features stunning illustrations of the ape and his adventures.