Click Here To Purchase ZombieStop Parade

Author: Richard Buzzell

ISBN: 9781461051985

It would appear that the current economic crisis in the United States has inspired a new literary genre, what could be labeled Apocalyptic literature, distinguishable from the dystopic fiction of the past insofar as it is less about an imaginary future and more descriptive of actual current reality. 

I recently reviewed another excellent novel that would fit into this genre called American Apocalypse  about a young man who finds himself homeless and seeking to survive as best he can in and on the outskirts of the crumbling city.  ZombieStop Parade is about a young man of some means who is not so desperate and has the luxury of being able to attempt to change the crumbling world around him for the better.  He seeks to do this through honest and insightful communication on a website, a blog, actually, which he names ZombieStop (as in stop behaving like zombies and start thinking).  His story and the story of the website is told through his best friend and accomplice who is gifted with a subtle wit and appealing candor as he fends off a persistent FBI agent investigating the blogger's possible connection to the fire bombing of the home of a high profile CEO oft mocked on ZombieStop,  a compulsively psycho-analytic girlfriend and a political party recruiter. There are several laugh out loud (oh, sorry should have written lol) quotes but the bottom line is that this novel tells it like it is and the news is not good until and unless fictional and real readers wake up and demand accountability and serious change from the corporate powers that are not only running our world, but running it into the ground. The device by which this friend tells the story is a diary he keeps about what occurs as their website grows from obscurity into a media force to be reckoned with. It is filled with astute observations. Consider:

"According to Corky, the most sophisticated tactic employed by the myth mongers is what he calls the reflected glory play.This works by letting supporters of Team Have Mores share in the team's reflected glory. It's the same deal that professional sports teams offer. When your team wins, you can celebrate as though you were a star player, instead of a fat slob sitting in front of the T.V. drinking beer and eating pizza. This is a sophisticated play because it doesn't require loading people up with money to get them on side. Plenty of people are looking for a winning team to attach themselves to and once they're emotionally connected, they'll defend the team." (p.140) . . . . and all this time I'd been wondering what possessed so many working people to vote against their own interests.

Whereas American Apocalypse is dark and violent,  ZombieStop Parade is light and witty, but the fact that both these entertaining and enlightening books were written and published in response to current harsh realities is itself a shining light of hope in these depressing times. Personally I would love to see college literature programs offer courses focusing on this new brand of spot-on relevant fiction and start their reading lists with these two novels.