Book #13
13. Undead Obsessed: Finding Meaning in Zombies by Jessica Robinson, 202 pages, Zombies, 2014.
*I received a free .pdf copy of this book for the purpose of review.*
Jessica Robinson loves zombie movies. It’s a palpable, beautiful thing as she takes on our current cultural obsession with Zombies. I share that obsession, and while I appreciate what she tried to do with this book, all I wanted after the book was finished was a zombie movie marathon. Which isn’t a bad thing - I love a good marathon. But I had hoped for more.
And I almost got it - Robinson does spend some of the book discussing real-world issues, like pathogens and resources. She talks to scientists and local authorities. I especially love the section about the water treatment plant. There is even a section on Haitian Zombis and the medicinal methods of creating a zombie, and how much that depends on the culture of those dosed.
But the book is poorly organized, flipping into a subject, just to flip out and say that it’ll be discussed later. And the use of zombie movies to illustrate the point ended up being clunky; I didn’t need a ramble of names, situations, and movies to make the point. I also was thrown out of the flow too often by statements that made me uncomfortable. For example, scientists are compared to Big Bang Theory’s Sheldon Cooper. She then uses that to show that scientists lack empathy and would have problems remembering to consider the effects on the human race when pursuing their scientific studies. I didn’t like the gross generalization.
Undead Obsessed: Finding Meaning in Zombies is an interesting book. I can’t say I wasted my time by reading it. But I think I would have gotten more out of just watching the zombie movies and TV shows listed and enjoying my own obsession.
*I received a free .pdf copy of this book for the purpose of review.*
Jessica Robinson loves zombie movies. It’s a palpable, beautiful thing as she takes on our current cultural obsession with Zombies. I share that obsession, and while I appreciate what she tried to do with this book, all I wanted after the book was finished was a zombie movie marathon. Which isn’t a bad thing - I love a good marathon. But I had hoped for more.
And I almost got it - Robinson does spend some of the book discussing real-world issues, like pathogens and resources. She talks to scientists and local authorities. I especially love the section about the water treatment plant. There is even a section on Haitian Zombis and the medicinal methods of creating a zombie, and how much that depends on the culture of those dosed.
But the book is poorly organized, flipping into a subject, just to flip out and say that it’ll be discussed later. And the use of zombie movies to illustrate the point ended up being clunky; I didn’t need a ramble of names, situations, and movies to make the point. I also was thrown out of the flow too often by statements that made me uncomfortable. For example, scientists are compared to Big Bang Theory’s Sheldon Cooper. She then uses that to show that scientists lack empathy and would have problems remembering to consider the effects on the human race when pursuing their scientific studies. I didn’t like the gross generalization.
Undead Obsessed: Finding Meaning in Zombies is an interesting book. I can’t say I wasted my time by reading it. But I think I would have gotten more out of just watching the zombie movies and TV shows listed and enjoying my own obsession.