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Max Brooks survives UAB

Posted on Nov 03, 2009 in News

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The Alumni Auditorium hosted Zombie enthusiast Max Brooks this past Thursday, Oct. 29 as part of the UAB lecture series. He received both a standing ovation in a standing room-only attended presentation.

The crowd was filled with characters seemingly pulled straight from the pages of one of Brooks’ books. People adorned themselves with zombie apparel, covering themselves with blood and tattered clothing.

Brooks was on campus promoting his three books — “The Zombie Survival Guide,” “World War Z” and “The Zombie Survival Guide: Record Attacks.” His books portray what would happen if (or for some people, when) zombies have a mass uprising — the dreaded “Z-Day.”

His books are comical and somewhat lighthearted in nature but present some survival techniques and strategies that can be implemented in any survival need situation.

Brooks started off by informing the crowd that in a real zombie attack, it’s not going to be like in the game “Resident Evil.”

“When the dead rise, their plan is to be the last one standing,” he said.

Brooks covered everything a person might need to know when “Z-Day” comes, from weapons to water, and even the late and great Steve Irwin, which got him a few boos from the audience.

“Most weapons were never designed to be weapons; instead, they were designed to be tools,” said Brooks. “When you are out looking for the perfect melee’ weapon, just go to the Home Depot, they’ll have it.”

As for supplies, Brooks said to start stocking up now and start assembling your survival group in advance.
“You need people with skills that you can use.”

In his lecture, Brooks touched on every subject from guns and gays to Canadians and hippies, and somehow cleverly related them all back to zombies.
When asked “Why zombies?” Brooks said, “Because they’re scary. They don’t obey the laws of conventional monsters…they are coming for you in the billions.

“Z-Day is going to be one big hunting season and an orange vest isn’t going to save you,” he said. “On Z-Day, you better be long gone and somewhere safe.”

After addressing the different options society will have during a zombie attack and spelling out the differences between zombie facts and fiction, the audience was allowed to address some of their most terrifying zombie concerns.

One attendee asked if a mo-ped would be an ideal vehicle of choice on the monstrous Z-Day to escape their blood-sucking undead attacker.

Brooks let the audience know that until a car can be invented that runs on fear, an alternate, non-gas guzzling means of transportation should be administered. When your beloved mo-ped finally runs out of gas, according to Brooks, all you end up with is a really heavy bicycle.

Another audience member was curious about the digestive track of vicious zombies, due to the fact that their undead nature would preclude them from the amenities of proper processing and disposal.

To that, Brooks simply replied, “Just because the exit lights are out in a room doesn’t mean the door is locked.”
While Brooks’ theme and idea of a zombie overtaking might seem murky and silly to some, he has collected a mass following and his work has made its way to the New York Times’ Best-Seller list.

Brooks says the best part about being on the Times’ Best-Seller list is the pleasure of getting to tell someone giving him poor customer service, “Hey I’m on the New York Times’ Best-Seller List, you can’t treat me like this.” However, he quite jokingly said that response never works or gets him anywhere.

Brooks is also an Academy Award winner for his writing on “Saturday Night Live,” and is currently working on two other projects: a book on World War I and the other is a comic book series on G.I. Joe.

For more information on Brooks and his books, visit http://www.maxbrooks.com.

Email: sgwhite@uab.edu

 




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