Wi-Philes

We all know it's coming.

It will start off with a few seemingly isolated incidents of localized disturbances; maybe the media will write it off as a stranger rash of murder-suicides or random acts of violence followed by the latest gossip on Britney Spears, and later, the weather. As the virus spreads, and people carry it to other parts of the world, our disbelief will continue until the threat bangs at our doorsteps - shambling, rotting and aiming to tear us to pieces. Yes, the army of the undead is just around the corner people - are you prepared?

If you're like me, and God help you if you are, you've gone through the zombie scenario in your head many a time. What would happen if my neighborhood was overrun with flesh-eating ghouls? Where would I go? Who would I take with me? If I had to, could I take down a zombie with only my car keys? Other living dead fanatics understand what I'm talking about, and more importantly, Max Brooks knows what I'm talking about.

The Zombie Survival Guide, published in 2003, asked the same questions I had asked myself. Furthermore, it handily answered them without as much as batting an eye. Well perhaps there was the tiniest bit of winking with a tongue planted in-cheek, but for the most part, the book delved into the world of the undead and made sure every aspect was covered in order for you and your family to survive an all-out zombie holocaust. It delivered historical details about the history of the virus that causes zombism while offering hypothetical (some might say time-tested) approaches to surviving on a planet covered with human-devouring, mindless, shambling monsters. Yes, Max Brooks seems to have seen Dawn of the Dead way more times than I have - and believe me, that's saying a lot. In fact, it's a little bit disconcerting.



The follow-up to the Survival Guide is World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War , which chronicles the planet's war with zombies from start to finish by weaving together stories from people who lived through it. Over 1 billion people have been infected, eaten or otherwise killed from a worldwide pandemic of the solanum virus, which not only has the capacity to kill its victim 100% of the time, but even after the victim's death, continues to allow the human body to function with the sole mechanical purpose of finding other humans and devouring them.
You know what I love about Max Brooks?: He does his homework. Sure, in a way, this is all a bunch of fan fiction; someone with way too much time on his hands who has dissected and reassembled the zombie universe of George Romero in his own image. But you have to give the man credit for doing his research and taking the time to construct stories, scenarios and observations that scientifically, politically and emotionally make sense.

Pick up the Survival Guide and see for yourself how the biological function of the virus itself is explained or which weaponry is best to take out the undead (I think a katana would be my weapon of choice). Inform yourself on stockpiling, how to apply yourself when on the run from a horde of killers or how to shelter yourself for a long-term threat. Although Brooks may be writing every word with a grin, there's no doubt that he's pored over other survival guides, weapon manuals and doomsday literature and used that knowledge to write his own guide (with a bit of a zombie twist). But pick up World War Z and expect something different.

Whereas the first book is more of a how-to guide on how not to end up as chunks of flesh inside a zombie stomach, the second is a tapestry of stories woven together to give a larger picture depicting the war between humanity and the reanimated dead. Imagine if you will destruction on a planetary scale where the fight isn't against terrorists, Nazis, guerillas or Decepticons. It's against an unrelenting mob of creatures who never have to eat, never have to resupply with food or weaponry and can withstand the harshest climates without leadership or emotion. Hell these fuckers don't even have to blink! They come at you and they will never stop coming at you, ever, either until their limbs simply rot away (don't expect that to happen anytime soon) – or you destroy every one of their brains.

In World War Z, the war has already happened. What is left of humanity is an interesting look into what might happen if we had to press the "reset" button on civilization and start all over. It starts off in China and later migrates into India and parts of Africa and, after a plodding winter, things really begin to get messy as panic reaches the West. Cue large-scale military failures with unprepared, disbelieving US citizens and you have a gore-flavored recipe for the extinction of our species.

Brooks travels to different parts of the world after the worst is behind us and interviews dozens of people from different backgrounds: soldiers, doctors, civilian survivors – they all tell their tales of hardship and tragedy, some who came through stronger than before, some completely broken by the war. Brooks takes us across the globe, mostly chronologically, by regaling stories that give us insight into the political, social and environmental fallout of humanity's reaction to a planetary plague. Listen to a soldier who was on the frontline at the Battle of Yonkers where the US military was woefully unprepared for winning a war that could not be fought with laser-guided missiles and modern warfare. Get on board an escaped Chinese submarine whose commander is torn between the survival of the families on board and treason against his country. Go deep beneath Paris into the filthy, stinking underground catacombs must be cleared in order to reclaim a final sense of security.

Each story is told with clarity and ambition (some much more interesting than others) and are fascinating looks into a universe of "what ifs". What if Pakistan and Iran engaged in nuclear warfare as the world around them burned? What if Paris Hilton, Puff Daddy and Anne Coulter were forced to band together to fight off an army of the undead? What if Cuba became a democratic powerhouse refugee base for Americans and Westerners coming over in tattered boats and rafts? What if "first world" nations filled with executive assistants, stock analysts, financial planners and IT specialists suddenly no longer needed white-collar workers as much as they needed crop workers, welders, carpenters and soldiers? Like I said before, some stories are more interesting than others, but it's an amazing psychological historical perspective into a true world war and the perseverance of man in the face of total annihilation.



The worst thing I can say about the book is that some stories are filler that either add nothing to the overall story or are flat-out boring. Also, some of the stories, while great, seem a little bit over-the-top or the person who is telling the story seems just a bit too much like a storyteller instead of a real person who might be relaying the tale. I'm sure one of the tough things about writing a book from so many 1st-person perspectives is that each storyteller needs their own authentic personality. As someone whose done more than a few interviews, I've realized that not everybody is as eloquent you'd like them to be and certainly not everyone is a storyteller. In the book, questions by the "interviewer" are placed sporadically between long drawn-out stories that sometimes sound more like a writer writing instead of a soldier speaking. Actions like pauses, chin rubbing and smiling are interjected to somehow try and give the storyteller some human authenticity but at times it seems forced and you just wish there were some more down-to-earth storytellers to listen to.

Regardless of this small complaint, zombie lovers can be assured there is much to take away from here and insane over-the-top zombie apocalypse planners can take even more away. Are you someone who enjoys reading about history from an autobiographical standpoint? Are you a person who enjoys thinking about possible geopolitical scenarios and the human psychology in a crisis? Do you eat brains? You'll probably love this book then. If you're not so much into listening to people drone on about zombie events that never happened – well don't bother me because I'm on the phone calling around to see how much a mountainside bomb shelters cost these days.

Needless to say, it's a great book and since it's in cinematic pre-production expect to hear much more about it in the future. Until then, sit back and have a relaxing read in your comfy recliner underneath your reading lamp powered by a an electric company regulated by a government who is woefully under trained and wholly unprepared for a zombie invasion. Don't say I didn't warn you.