Book Review

Sage Lamela

10-18-13

Harper English 10

Max Brooks' "The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead:" How to Survive an Apocalypse

Reviewed by: Sage Lamela

Admit it, there has been some point in your life where you have wondered what you would do in the event of a zombie apocalypse. You wonder where you would go, how you would defend yourself, and how you would survive.  In The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead, Max Brooks discusses all survival tactics, situations, and possibilities to help us survive a zombie apocalypse.

The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead is a parody survival guide to a fictional zombie apocalypse. In this fictional world, the dead have risen through the effects of the virus solanum. "By stopping the heart, the infected subject is "dead." The brain, however, remains alive but dormant, while the virus mutates it's cells into a completely new organ" (Brooks 2). Although the dead cannot think or reason, they are still highly dangerous. As in all zombie scenarios, the zombies are able to spread the disease to the living. Brooks  goes In depth with his tips and tricks on how to kill, avoid, and survive against the undead.

This book really showed the lighter sides of a disaster. Although this book was about an apocalyptic situation, one can't help but laugh at the kinds if tips and tricks Brooks gives in his book. "Often, a school is your best bet-perhaps not for education but certainly for protection from an undead attack" (Brooks 79). Brooks' tips look serious, but are actually products of Brooks' comedy genius. With this book, Brooks not only entertains his readers by preparing them for apocalypse, he also puts on comedy show without ever really showing it.

Although the book is meant to be a parody, it also teaches the reader a couple of tips that can be applied to real life. "If you believe you can accomplish everything by "cramming" at the eleventh hour, by all means, don't lift a finger now. But you may think twice about beginning to build your ark once it has already started raining" (Brooks 78). Who would've known that life lessons could come from a fiction book about surviving the undead. With tips like these, Brooks shows us that his book isn't just straight up about how to outlast zombies, but it is also about how we can connect the things we learn everyday to the situations we go through in life.

As I review this book, it becomes very hard to find any flaws. One possible thing wrong with The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead the loss of interest readers get when they get bored of the continuous lists of precautions and preparations to take before the dead come knocking at your door. This could've been improved if Brooks, rather than continuously listing tips, summarized or maybe simplified the tips to further entertain and attract the reader. The best way to avoid this flaw is to moderate your reading of the book, so you don't get too full of knowledge.

The great thing about The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead is that it leaves readers wondering about their plan during an actual zombie apocalypse. Readers love the ability to be able to imagine themselves in different situations like these. This is the true genius behind this book. Being able to plan for an unreal event gives us the freedom to consider all possibilities without risk. With this book, Max Brooks knew what entertained and delivered. 

Brooks, Max. The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead. Crown Publishing Group. 2003