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Summary: Zombie fact and fiction
Review: This book is insanely funny. I use the word insane because tell a person you are reading a zombie survival guide and look at the reaction you get. Most of the time I got these strangely fearful looks when people asked me what I was reading and I told them. This book was well worth all the looks I got while reading it. First and foremost, the book is extremely well written, the survival guide portion and the zombie attack sections of the book were both written as if they were cold hard facts, not made up from the author's imagination. You really could use this book in case of a zombie outbreak. Check the website for the new movie "Dawn of the Dead". There is a link to this site from the movie site. That in itself cracked me up again at remembering how funny the book was. I didn't know that the autor was the sunof Mel Brooks and a staff writer for SNL, but it doesn't surprise me. This book is well worth the cost, and anyone who reads it, either as a serious novel of just for laughs, will have a great time all the way though.
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Summary: A must for zombie genre fans, and for survivialist mockers
Review: When the dead rise and walk the earth to feast upon the flesh of the living, all those gun-control advocates are going to feel pretty silly. This highly amusing volume is, primarily, a spoof of survivialist manuals, and simultaneously is one of the best and most thorough summaries of zombie-fiction conventions I've ever read. There is a lot going on in this book all at once, and it is surprisingly fun to try to disentangle the threads of just what Max Brooks is spoofing at any given moment. Sure, the book is a goof on survivalist literature, and on the zombie genre, but the completely deadpan presentation (and the fact that the author has clearly thought about both subjects WAY too much) belies a certain respect for both. Is he sending up those of us who stocked up on toilet paper and bottled water prior to Y2K (or bought sheets of plastic and duct tape, all the better to suffocate ourselves to death in hermetically sealed interior rooms in the event of an anthrax attack after 9/11)? Is he laughing at zombie-film fanatics who can categorize monsters by their film antecedents like the CDC tracking the progress of a mutating influenza strain? Or laughing with them? Is he laughing at you, for having bought his book (for whatever your motives)? I highly recommend this book for horror or zombie film fans. And if you've got a crazy uncle who has been stockpiling ammo out at his ranch (complete with independent water source) against the day when "they" come, get a copy for him, too - even if he doesn't appreciate the humor, he might get some useful ideas for defending the homestead come the revolution.
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Summary: Good for fire drills too
Review: I won't repeat what so many others have said so much more eloquently than I, but I will say this: For those of you who are trying to interest your offspring in such things as "How To Get Out Of The House If It's On Fire", or "Where To Go In An Emergency" this book provides a 'cover story' that will maintain their attention. Kids may not be interested in learning how to get out the house if there's a fire, but they'll be interested if you say the plan is really for running from zombies instead.
Rating:
Summary: I better watch out.
Review: This book is a good source for anti-zombie warfare. I was interested on it both because of its topic and its author; Max Brooks is Mel Brook's son. I was expecting a book with open jokes and perhaps a parody, but was impressed when I saw how seriously the author dealt with the topic; it was almost convincing, actually. Aside from the smooth writing and interesting detailed information about defeating the undead, I was also quite pleased at how Mr. Brooks would every now and then, while explaining some feature about zombies, pinch us humans with sharp comments, as, for example, in the statement "Americans have a special relationship with handguns" (page 47). People wishing to create good zombie stories should consult this book; also, the "Recorded Attacks" add a touch of realism and perhaps some ideas for good plots. This book may not cause severe laughter, but its refined humor added to very properly divided chapters and good writing are sure worth the money and time.
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Summary: Max Brooks take a bow!
Review: I picked up this book expected to chuckle. I thoght it would be along the lines of the Worse Case books. It starts out with that droll, almost English tounge in cheek humor and rapidly gets serious. It's obvious Max Brooks did some research. Everything you ever wanted to know about zombie lore plus a dollop of human history and nature is thrown in. The first half of the book talks about dealing with a class 1 through 4 zombie outbreak and offers advice such as don't go down in the basement, don't go to the hospital--there's dead and dying folks there to begin with, keep moving, don't let the zombie get close enough to touch you, and keep quiet until you reach safety. The second half describes recorded attacks from ancient time until today and it's actually scary. If Max Brooks ever decides to write straight horror fiction I'll buy it. The story about the slave ship full of zombies gave me genuine chills. Another very amusing and clever touch is the way Brooks never breaks away from the tone of the book. The dedication, introduction, about the author page and acknowlegement pages all
stick to the book's theme. All in all, I'm delighted with this book. It's funny and scary and that is very difficult to pull off. Head to your secure location, turn the lights down, turn the radio off and read this little thriller. Max Brooks, take a bow!
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Summary: The definitive scholarly compilation on zombology
Review: Finally, a man who understands the all-too-real threat of the living dead and who posesses the eloquence to present it convincingly! Max Brooks has produced a small wonder of a book in the Zombie Survival Guide, a book which provides the average American reader (through hands-on experience, published scientific research and historical accounts) with a comprehensive guide to surviving multiple levels of zombie infestation. Stripping away popular zombie myths, Brooks cuts through the morass of media misinformation with a book based firmly in the terrible reality of the undead. Easy-to-follow chapters on recommended weaponry, small-unit tactics and defensive fortification provide an easy entrance into the frightening world of the undead for the novice zombologist, while seasoned veterans will appreciate the elaborate instructions on how to survive the dreaded "Class 4" infestation. With a balanced mix of the practical, the historical and the scientific, this book has something for everyone. If you buy only one book on zombology, make it this one.
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Summary: Be ready to survive !!
Review: Wow, I finished the book last friday, then I went to watch Dawn of the Dead(Remake) on Saturday. Having read this book makes you feel like a true "zombie outbreak expert"! I liked this a lot, really really entertaining stuff. I didn't give it 5 stars just because some notions about zombies that I personally like some other way(things that deal with memory, physiology, etc). And yes, most of the chronicles at the end are by themselves very good micro-stories that could really scare you when in the appropriate circumstances. With this book you'll learn all the "do's" and "do not's", you'll learn to "feel" if something is happening, what to do if you're catch unprepared,how to defend yourself and your loved-ones, how to fight, how to hunt them, how to destroy them, what they are capable of, what they really are, and most important, how to remain alive. So, if you are ready, pack your stuff(don't forget your zombie survival guide!), get your shaolin sword sharpened and the sniper rifle tunned, and by all means escape... FAST, QUIETLY, FAR AWAY !!!
Rating: 
Summary: A little TOO deadpan for it's own good.
Review: I wanted to love this book... I really did. As a fanatic devotee of all things zombie related, this seemed like a slam dunk. The problem is that the book is written so dryly, that the deadpan humor that should be inherent in a title such as this is absent. Even more bothersome, is the repetition in the topics. That is : here's what to do on 10 different types of terrain when you're fleeing from zombies. Now here's what to do on those same types of terrain if you are hunting zombies. And again, same terrain, if you are establishing a stronghold. We get it... swamps suck.
Is it a lousy read? No, not at all. I just feel it could have been so much more with a little more black humor and a little less repitition.
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Summary: BEWARE THE SOLANUM
Review: When there's no more room in Hell, the dead will walk the Earth. That's reason enough for everybody to head to their local library or bookstore to bone up on the skills needed to deal with the undead. This book is an excellent, if somewhat darkly humorous, guide to surviving a zombie attack. Very timely in light of the recent rash of undead sightings at the theatre and video stores. I would advise people who have read or plan to read this guide to not get too cocky while in the U.K. though as this book doesn't seem to apply the the zombies found in 28 Days Later. I especially liked the Recorded Attacks section at the end. That alone was worth the price of admission. Max Brooks now needs to focus his attention on some of the other classic monsters and tell us how to survive them as well. Beware the Solanum.
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Summary: A little too serious, if you ask me
Review: When I got this book, I was expecting something a bit more funny. The premise is funny, a book on how to survive the coming zombie apocalypse, but the book seems a bit too serious. I did like the historical outbreaks section. Each one of those could have been made into a pretty creepy short story.
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