World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ? Prepare to be entranced by this addictively readable oral history of the great war between humans and zombies.--Entertainment Weekly We survived the zombie apocalypse, but how many of us are still haunted by that terrible time? We have (temporarily?) defeated the living dead, but at what cost? Told in the haunting and riveting voices of the men and women who witnessed the horror firsthand, World War Z is the only record of the pandemic. The Zombie War came unthinkably close to eradicating humanity. Max Brooks, driven by the urgency of preserving the acid-etched first-hand experiences of the survivors, traveled across the United States of America and throughout the world, from decimated cities that once teemed with upwards of thirty million souls to the most remote and inhospitable areas of the planet. He recorded the testimony of men, women, and sometimes children who came face-to-face with the living, or at least the undead, hell of that dreadful time. World War Z is the result. Never before have we had access to a document that so powerfully conveys the depth of fear and horror, and also the ineradicable spirit of resistance, that gripped human society through the plague years. THE INSPIRATION FOR THE MAJOR MOTION PICTURE Will spook you for real.--The New York Times Book Review Possesses more creativity and zip than entire crates of other new fiction titles. Think Mad Max meets The Hot Zone. . . . It's Apocalypse Now, pandemic-style. Creepy but fascinating.--USA Today Will grab you as tightly as a dead man's fist. A.--Entertainment Weekly, EW Pick Probably the most topical and literate scare since Orson Welles's War of the Worlds radio broadcast . . . This is action-packed social-political satire with a global view.--Dallas Morning News Editorial Reviews An 'oral history' of the global war the evil brain-chewers came within a hair of winning. Zombies are among us--turn on your television if you don't believe it. But, Brooks reassures us, even today, human fighters are hunting down the leftovers, and we're winning. [His] iron-jaw narrative is studded with practical advice on what to do when the zombies come, as they surely will. A literate, ironic, strangely tasty treat.--Kirkus Reviews (starred review) Max Brooks has charted the folly of a disaster response based solely on advanced technologies and brute force in this step-by-step guide to what happened in the Zombie War. He details with extraordinary insight how in the face of institutional missteps and greed, people in unexpected ways achieve unique, creative, and effective strategies to survive and fight back. Brooks's account of the path to recovery and reconstruction after the war is fascinating, too. World War Z provides us with a starting point, at least, a basic blueprint from which to build a popular understanding of how, when, and why such a disaster came to be, and how small groups and individuals survived.--Jeb Weisman, Ph.D.,Director of Strategic Technologies, National Center for Disaster Preparedness Possesses more creativity and zip than entire crates of other new fiction titles. Think Mad Max meets The Hot Zone . . . It's Apocalypse Now, pandemic-style. Creepy but fascinating.--USA Today Prepare to be entranced by this addictively readable oral history of the great war between humans and zombies. . . . Will grab you as tightly as a dead man's fist. A.--Entertainment Weekly, EW Pick Probably the most topical and literate scare since Orson Welles' War of the Worlds radio broadcast. . . . This is action-packed social-political satire with a global view.--Dallas Morning News Brooks [is] America's most prominent maven on the living dead. . . . Chilling. . . . It is gripping reading and a scathing indictment of weak responses to crises real and over-hyped.--Hartford Courant A sober, frequently horrifying and even moving account. . . . Brooks has delivered a full-blown horror novel, laced with sharp social and political observations and loads of macabre, gruesome imagery. . . . The real horror of World War Z comes from the all-too-plausible responses of human beings and governments to the menace.--Fangoria A horror fan's version of Studs Terkel's The Good War. . . . Like George Romero's Dead trilogy, World War Z is another milestone in the zombie mythology.--Booklist Brooks commits to detail in a way that makes his nightmare world creepily plausible. . . . Far more affecting than anything involving zombies really has any right to be. . . . The book . . . opens in blood and guts, turns the world into an oversized version of hell, then ends with and affirmation of humanity's ability to survive the worst the world has to offer. It feels like the right book for the right times, and that's the eeriest detail of all.--The A.V. Club The best science fiction has traditionally been steeped in social commentary. World War Z continues that legacy. . . . We haven't been this excited about a book without pictures since-well, since ever.--Metro Each story locks together perfectly to create a wonderful, giddy suspense. Brooks also has the political savvy to take advantage of any paranoia a modern reader might feel. . . . The perfect book for all us zombie junkies.--Paste This infectious and compelling book will have nervous readers watching the streets for zombies. Recommended.--Library Journal - From the Publisher In the wake of the great zombie war, Brooks's fictional alter ego travels around the world to ask tough questions of individuals and leaders about their experience and actions before, during and after the undead menace decimated the human population. Brooks remarkably identifies and articulates the nuances and unconsidered realities of what a zombie war would look like. This intriguing oral history stands apart from his previous zombie-related book, The Zombie Survival Guide, as Brooks uses the postwar culture here to provide political and social commentary on a wide range of real-life individuals and institutions. An all-star cast including Alan Alda, Mark Hamill, J rgen Prochnow, Henry Rollins, John Turturro, Rob and Carl Reiner, and many others deliver their parts with such fervor and intensity that listeners cannot help but empathize with these characters. Max Brooks acts as the interviewer, providing an inquisitive but stagnant demeanor. The abridgment keeps the story tight but struggles with the interviewer's narration during interviews. When Brooks interrupts characters to indicate that the person rolled his eyes or appeared apprehensive, his comments are often moot because the performers are already portraying such body language with their tone. Simultaneous release with the Crown hardcover (Reviews, Aug. 7). (Sept.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information. - Publishers Weekly As the author of the deadpan Zombie Survival Guide, Brooks (son of filmmaker Mel) is clearly qualified to write this globe-spanning global history of a war that will begin sometime soon. The book owes a debt to George Romero's Living Dead films, with their hordes of moaning ghouls, but that kind of monster-movie action is secondary to the individual stories of both major world players and front-line grunts in the war against the undead. Woven through the narrative are an undercurrent of social commentary and musings on the nature of fear and hope. This infectious and compelling book will have nervous readers watching the streets for zombies. Recommended for all public libraries. Karl G. Siewert, Tulsa City-Cty. Lib. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information. - Library Journal An oral history of the global war the evil brain-chewers came within a hair of winning. Zombies are among us-turn on your television if you don't believe it. But, Brooks reassures us in this all-too-realistic novel, even today, human fighters are hunting down the leftovers, and we're winning. Brooks (The Zombie Survival Guide, not reviewed) seeds his mockumentary with smart nods to the chains of cause and effect that spring from today's headlines. Like the avian flu, one CIA agent tells the interviewer, the zombie plague began in China, whose government embarked on a campaign of health and safety sweeps (Instead of lying about the sweeps themselves, they just lied about what they were sweeping for) to contain the endless armies of the moaning, walking dead. It didn't work. Ear to the ground, Israel quarantined itself-it helped that it had that tall new wall. Greece, Japan, England: Every center of world civilization was overrun, with notable pockets of resistance. In England, for example, the queen stayed in Windsor Castle, the most easily defended bastion in the realm, to steel the hearts of her subjects. Who says the royal family is a relic? Finally, the zombies come to North America, where, after the disastrous Battle of Yonkers, the humans regroup and take their pound of extremely icky flesh in vengeance; even Michael Stipe, the antiwar rock singer, signs up to kick zombie butt. Brooks's iron-jaw narrative is studded with practical advice on what to do when the zombies come, as they surely will. For one thing, check to see who doesn't blink (Maybe because they don't have as much bodily fluid they can't keep using it to coat the eyes), aim for the head and blast away. Aliterate, ironic, strangely tasty treat for fans of 28 Days Later, Dawn of the Dead, The Last Man on Earth and other treasures of the zombie/counterzombie genre. Film rights to Brad Pitt/Plan B Productions - Kirkus Reviews Zombies are among us. In a series of journalistic-style interviews and monologues, Max Brooks tracks the institutional and geopolitical missteps that led to the collapse of civilization and follows the intrepid survivors as they tell the story of fighting their way back against a zombie horde of 200 million. Alan Alda, Carl Reiner, Mark Hamill, and a host of others lend their considerable vocal talents to give these interviews a solid realism. China secretly developed a deadly virus. Israel closed its borders. Cuba plotted. And in the United States the Battle of Yonkers was a devastating rout for the U.S. Army. It's all very much in the grand tradition of War of the Worlds. B.P. 2007 Audies Award Winner AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine - DEC 06/JAN 07 - AudioFile