February 25, 2007

Books of the Week: Max Brooks’ WORLD WAR Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, and THE ZOMBIE SURVIVAL GUIDE

I had the pleasure of reading Max Brooks’ “WORLD WAR Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War” this week. Since that wasn’t enough, I had to read THE ZOMBIE SURVIVAL GUIDE, too. This is the most fun I’ve had reading in a long time. After doing a little further reading on the books, I found that THE ZOMBIE SURVIVAL GUIDE (referred to after this as TZSG) was published a couple of years before WORLD WAR Z, and that Brooks, in addition to being a writer for Saturday Night Live, is also the son of Mel Brooks.

I picked up WWZ first, and I thought it was wonderful. It’s a multi-person point of view history of that war you may have missed, the war against the zombies. Partly funny, partly satirical, partly touching, this book is just amazing. It’s really hard to put down, because Brooks, in the guise of the reporter who’s recording all these different narratives, visits such great characters: a blind monk, a smuggler, a doctor, a kid in North America, and more. All of them survived the war and they all have a story to tell about how that happened. I haven’t read anything this inventive in a long time.

THE ZOMBIE SURVIVAL GUIDE is a little more openly funny, and it looks exactly like one of those vanity press survival guides you can buy at so many army surplus stores. With its line illustrations and detailed advice, you really can’t do without it. Where else can you find what kind of people you need to include in your little group when you migrate north to escape the zombies? How else are you going to learn the perils of trying to remain in a city, which might seem to be your best bet? And I guarantee you’ll think twice about swimming once you’ve read this book. Better start practicing your shooting and running right now.

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It’s been a very busy week at my house. Daughter’s first softball game (don’t ask) and preparations for the team fundraiser, an Ash Wednesday church service, discussions about our Wednesday soup luncheons, and trying to clean the house for a cast party on Sunday have eaten up my week. Next week will be just as busy. I speak to a college class on Monday, and the fundraiser is Monday night. Tuesday I cook for the luncheon. Wednesday I serve at the luncheon. I feel tired just thinking about it.

In the midst of my trying to figure out how many eggs I’m going to need for the desserts I have to make to auction off at the fundraiser, I heard from Alan Ball that some more roles had been cast for “True Blood.” I am beginning to believe that the TV series based on my books will really come to pass. With Jim Butcher’s “The Dresden Files” on Sci Fi, Tanya Huff’s series soon to come to Lifetime, and the series of yet another well-known urban fantasy author perched on the edge of filming (sorry, I can’t say), it seems the world is hungry for a walk on the wild and fantastic side. I hope we all flourish.

If I’m asked to or able to attend any of the filming, I’ll let you know what that’s like. This is far outside my comfort zone, and way out of my frame of reference. I really enjoy thinking about something completely new from time to time, and this is definitely that something. For months, I assumed the deal would collapse somehow. Alan Ball would lose interest, or HBO would withdraw their financing, or something of that nature. I’m beginning to believe the whole project might really come together.

A TV series won’t be like the books. It’s a different animal. Some characters will be filled out and more prominent, some characters will be eliminated, and some will be invented somewhere along the way. I’m looking forward to seeing how the basic story line of the Sookie books changes and adapts to the needs of television, and I hope we all enjoy the end product.

Charlaine Harris