Pie Palace

World War Z is an “oral history of the zombie war,” telling the story of how humanity was almost annihilated at the groping hands of the undead. The story arc is pretty simple: a mysterious virus breaks out in China, and quickly spreads around the world. The tale is told in after-the-fact interviews with survivors.

It’s a great read. I picked it up from the library on Saturday and was done by Sunday night. The writing is vivid, with each character telling us a little about the catastrophe, while exposing a little bit of their personality.

There are some fun twists: who knew that Cuba would fare so well in the post-undead world? that zombies can survive underwater for years? that winter would offer a reprieve to the survivors? The cameos by Howard Dean, Nelson Mandela, and Zatōichi are fun as well.

My only complaints: the United States spearheading the anti-zombie fight was a bit of a let down, but South African, Cuban, Japanese, and Russian experiences almost made up for that. Since humanity was almost destroyed, I hoped for a greater sense of dread in the early and middle chapters. There was a definite sense of sacrifice, but some more emotional stories of what people lost would have added to the drama.

Addendum: The audio book features Alan Alda, Mark Hamill, and Henry Rollins.