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World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie…
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World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War (original 2006; edition 2007)

by Max Brooks

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingConversations / Mentions
15,461713346 (3.98)3 / 692
Fiction. Horror. Literature. Science Fiction. HTML:#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Prepare to be entranced by this addictively readable oral history of the great war between humans and zombies.”—Entertainment Weekly
 
We survived the zombie apocalypse, but how many of us are still haunted by that terrible time? We have (temporarily?) defeated the living dead, but at what cost? Told in the haunting and riveting voices of the men and women who witnessed the horror firsthand, World War Z is the only record of the pandemic.
 
The Zombie War came unthinkably close to eradicating humanity. Max Brooks, driven by the urgency of preserving the acid-etched first-hand experiences of the survivors, traveled across the United States of America and throughout the world, from decimated cities that once teemed with upwards of thirty million souls to the most remote and inhospitable areas of the planet. He recorded the testimony of men, women, and sometimes children who came face-to-face with the living, or at least the undead, hell of that dreadful time. World War Z is the result. Never before have we had access to a document that so powerfully conveys the depth of fear and horror, and also the ineradicable spirit of resistance, that gripped human society through the plague years.
THE INSPIRATION FOR THE MAJOR MOTION PICTURE

“Will spook you for real.”The New York Times Book Review
 
“Possesses more creativity and zip than entire crates of other new fiction titles. Think Mad Max meets The Hot Zone. . . . It’s Apocalypse Now, pandemic-style. Creepy but fascinating.”USA Today
 
“Will grab you as tightly as a dead man’s fist. A.”Entertainment Weekly, EW Pick 
 
“Probably the most topical and literate scare since Orson Welles’s War of the Worlds radio broadcast . . . This is action-packed social-political satire with a global view.”Dallas Morning News.
… (more)
Member:omagunk
Title:World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War
Authors:Max Brooks
Info:Three Rivers Press (2007), Paperback, 352 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:
Tags:None

Work Information

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks (2006)

  1. 202
    Feed by Mira Grant (Aerrin99, andreablythe, HenriMoreaux)
    Aerrin99: An awesome look at the world post-zombie-apocalypse with history, politics, and fantastic world building.
  2. 163
    The Stand by Stephen King (timspalding)
  3. 152
    The Passage by Justin Cronin (divinenanny)
  4. 131
    The Walking Dead, Volume 01: Days Gone Bye by Robert Kirkman (Aerrin99)
    Aerrin99: An awesome look at the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse in the longer term.
  5. 91
    Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson (timspalding)
    timspalding: Very similar style.
  6. 70
    The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham (infjsarah)
    infjsarah: Older sci-fi but still very effective. Survival against mindless, ever increasing enemy.
  7. 60
    Earth Abides by George R. Stewart (timspalding)
  8. 72
    Patient Zero by Jonathan Maberry (stmartins)
    stmartins: Also a killer Zombie thriller and an awesome first book in the "Joe Ledger" series. Teaser and free prequal story avaiable at stmartins.com/JonathanMaberry
  9. 61
    Y: The Last Man Vol. 01: Unmanned by Brian K. Vaughan (MyriadBooks)
  10. 62
    Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler (storyjunkie)
    storyjunkie: Both are tales of how to survive a world gone mad, though there are no zombies in Butler's. Both works' treatment of the human questions are equally nuanced, variable, and detailed.
  11. 41
    Zone One by Colson Whitehead (ahstrick)
  12. 30
    Zombie CSU: The Forensics of the Living Dead by Jonathan Maberry (ShelfMonkey)
  13. 31
    Handling the Undead by John Ajvide Lindqvist (ijustgetbored)
    ijustgetbored: A completely different take on zombies: here, they're not "out to get you," just beings who may or may not have souls, and Lindqvist treats all those related questions.
  14. 20
    The Three by Sarah Lotz (sparemethecensor)
    sparemethecensor: Speculative fiction, same piecey storytelling style.
  15. 64
    And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic by Randy Shilts (timspalding)
    timspalding: Some may take offense at the suggestion, but I think don't think World War Z could have been written without And the Band Played On, an oral history of the all-too-real AIDS epidemic. Shilts' is by far the better book, even if it weren't true and important.… (more)
  16. 20
    Breathers: A Zombie's Lament by S. G. Browne (FFortuna)
  17. 20
    The Rising by Brian Keene (yoyogod)
    yoyogod: The Rising is probably my favorite zombie novel.
  18. 10
    Day by Day Armageddon by J. L. Bourne (rcollett)
    rcollett: Great Books!
  19. 10
    The Zombie Autopsies: Secret Notebooks from the Apocalypse by Steven C. Schlozman (ann.elizabeth)
  20. 10
    Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End by Manel Loureiro (jorvaor)
    jorvaor: Similar zombie apocalypse from a single protagonist point of view.

(see all 34 recommendations)

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» See also 692 mentions

English (695)  French (7)  Spanish (4)  Danish (2)  Italian (2)  German (1)  Hungarian (1)  All languages (712)
Showing 1-5 of 695 (next | show all)
Great fiction. Insightful and personal imagining of a very human kind in a zombie apocalypse. Ive read it several times. ( )
  trrpatton | Mar 20, 2024 |
Book is way better than the movie. The movie was a bust. Just an FYI.

When I first read this book I was skeptical because I’m not a fan of zombie anything. Let me just tell ya; I loved it.

My perception; I’ve been told I’m wrong but oh well. I read it as the war has been going on for sometime and a journalist explored the origins of the virus within a time line. I imagined it like the Interview with a Vampire. He interviewed tons of individuals and it jumps from person to person location to location explaining how the war went down.

What I enjoyed the most is perfectly realistic tone; both serious and sardonic at the same time.
I feel like the approach is truly from a reporter with military knowledge; providing a pragmatical experience, if there was a zombie apocalypse. As a therapist I also enjoyed how it hit on the psychological effects on the individual, the citizens, and the military personnel.

I enjoy books that allow for the tears and laughter.
( )
  Rementegui | Mar 17, 2024 |
Usually, I dislike zombie movies and stories, but I was impressed by this. It's really well done, like a collection of interviews from a real event. The cast does a good job presenting the overall story and it's enjoyable to listen to. ( )
  JohnMB69 | Feb 23, 2024 |
I think this book was more like a distopian work of fiction than pure horror. It's not really a novel: it's a collection of fictional interviews with survivors of a zombie epidemic. People from all creeds and nations describe national politics and personal feelings.
This book is more like a very elaborate description of a setting, a bit like what Jose Saramago does in Death With Interruptions. It was a fascinating read. ( )
  jd7h | Feb 18, 2024 |
This book is totally great.

Depressing, oddly realistic for a book about zombies, and very readable. It's not gross, it's not scary in a horror movie type way, it's just fascinating in it's realism and it's ability to make you think: "Wow! I can totally see this happening in real life." And THAT is scary. ( )
  hmonkeyreads | Jan 25, 2024 |
Showing 1-5 of 695 (next | show all)

» Add other authors (21 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Max Brooksprimary authorall editionscalculated
Alda, AlanNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Elias, MariaDesignersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Körber, JoachimÜbersetzersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Keränen, HelmiTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Petersen, JohnIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Ramírez Tello, PilarTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Reiner, CarlNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Reiner, RobNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Rollins, HenryNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Tran, DavidCover designersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed

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Dedication
For Henry Michael Brooks,
who makes me want to change the world.
Bana dünyayı değiştirme isteği veren
Henry Michael Brooks için...
First words
Introduction - It goes by many names: "The Crisis," "The Dark Years," "The Walking Plague," as well as newer and more "hip" titles such as "World War Z" or "Z War One."
Setting - Greater Chongqing, the United Federation of China
Chapter One - The first outbreak I saw was in a remote village that officially had no name.
Quotations
'Fear is the most valuable commodity in the universe' Turn on the TV what are you seeing? People selling you products? No. People selling you the fear of you having to live without their products' Fear of aging, fear of loneliness, fear of poverty, fear of failure. Fear is the most basic emotion we have. Fear is primal. Fear sells. pg 55 (edit)
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Wikipedia in English (3)

Fiction. Horror. Literature. Science Fiction. HTML:#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Prepare to be entranced by this addictively readable oral history of the great war between humans and zombies.”—Entertainment Weekly
 
We survived the zombie apocalypse, but how many of us are still haunted by that terrible time? We have (temporarily?) defeated the living dead, but at what cost? Told in the haunting and riveting voices of the men and women who witnessed the horror firsthand, World War Z is the only record of the pandemic.
 
The Zombie War came unthinkably close to eradicating humanity. Max Brooks, driven by the urgency of preserving the acid-etched first-hand experiences of the survivors, traveled across the United States of America and throughout the world, from decimated cities that once teemed with upwards of thirty million souls to the most remote and inhospitable areas of the planet. He recorded the testimony of men, women, and sometimes children who came face-to-face with the living, or at least the undead, hell of that dreadful time. World War Z is the result. Never before have we had access to a document that so powerfully conveys the depth of fear and horror, and also the ineradicable spirit of resistance, that gripped human society through the plague years.
THE INSPIRATION FOR THE MAJOR MOTION PICTURE

“Will spook you for real.”The New York Times Book Review
 
“Possesses more creativity and zip than entire crates of other new fiction titles. Think Mad Max meets The Hot Zone. . . . It’s Apocalypse Now, pandemic-style. Creepy but fascinating.”USA Today
 
“Will grab you as tightly as a dead man’s fist. A.”Entertainment Weekly, EW Pick 
 
“Probably the most topical and literate scare since Orson Welles’s War of the Worlds radio broadcast . . . This is action-packed social-political satire with a global view.”Dallas Morning News.

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