Okay, so there is something of a zombie craze going on, and I am sure you have noticed it. Personally I feel it is little silly, especially when you have grown men talking about their equipment for the Zombie Apocalypse. I do appreciate that the majority of people are merely using zombies as a proxy for all sorts of epic scale disasters. That said, why do we need a proxy? Oh well, I guess it is all in good fun.

But if there is any person that reignited the zombie fire that really took hold in the 50s after George Romero's classic, Night of the Living Dead (go back and watch it, it is AWESOMELY scary and tense, a great flick), it is Max Brooks. Brooks wrote the Zombie Survival Guide and the truly great and pulpy World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War.

It is definitely a good read and I appreciate the unusual narrative perspective, that of an oral historian being told tales of the apocalypse from various people, but it is the subtle and not so subtle social commentary that I think makes the book more than it seems. It is sort of like how Animal Farm is not REALLY about a farm or animals (though the quote--"All animals are created equal, some animals are more equal than others"--is too good not to reference).

There is some really biting commentary on environmental issues (the whole outbreak is sort of a "Gaea's Revenge" scenario) celebrity status, the pitfalls of technology, Chinese communism, nuclear power, anti-social computer shut ins, gear geeks (oh no....), utilitarianism (the Redeker plan), and nationalism. Plus, in some parts, it is really, really gruesome and scary. Over all an excellent read. I can't imagine that people that would read this blog haven't at least heard something of the book, but if you haven't track it down. It is a good summer adventure. Just make sure you have a LOBO handy.