Most reviews of Zone One: A Novel start out talking about Colson Whitehead, the insanely talented author and cult hero of the literary scene. Much has been made of "this LITERARY author wrote a ZOMBIE novel." Oh my, the very thought! It's titillating, is it not? The idea of a Harvard grad and MacArthur Fellow, slumming it with a zombie novel?

 

Sure, Zone One: A Novel has zombies. And Never Let Me Go has clones, and Children of Men has a zero-birth fascist apocalypse. But it matters more what the book does with the clones, zero-birth fascist apocalypse, or zombies, don't you think? 

 

And what Zone One: A Novel does with zombies is amazing.

 

In reading the book, I was reminded of two things: 

1. A passage in Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon where, as a character crosses through customs, the narrative weaves through three levels of flashback without - and this is the important part - ever losing the reader.

 

2. The most memorable (for me) part of Stephen King's The Stand, which is the post-apocalypse restoration, as cleaning crews sweep the town for dead bodies, turn off the appliances in anticipation of electricity being restored, and clear the streets.

 

The actual framework of Zone One: A Novel takes place over about three days. But the story engages multiple levels of flashback, going back years, months, weeks, and days. At the same time it creates a world so vivid, so perfectly realized, that it seems impossible that the reality would go any other way. And at the end the narrative tidily collapses into itself like a portable camping stove, and it all comes down to one single decision.

 

The protagonist of the novel is fascinating because he has survived. In most post-apocalyptic narratives, the ultimate survivor is a tough guy, or a trained martial artist, or a survivalist, or all three. In Zone One: A Novel, the ultimate survivor is the man who is able - nay, willing - to relinquish his hold on anything at any moment. He has even shed his true name, and goes simply by his nickname "Mark Spitz."

 

You can be the most mediocre of specimens - as Mark Spitz is - but as long as you don't try too hard to hold onto anything, you'll make it through. Such is the somewhat dismal (yet utterly pragmatic) message. It is borne out by the most pitiable level of zombies, the "stragglers," who are trapped for eternity (or until a head shot) in one particular moment of time. 

 

Zone One: A Novel grapples with the events of 9/11 (Mark Spitz is haunted by a persistent hallucination of ash swirling through the air), America's marketing machine (as determined and cannibalistic as the zombies themselves), and the price of love (loss). Plus, there is a lot of gore and slow creeping horror. 

 

I seriously cannot imagine what more you could want from a novel. I'm sad that I read it, because you only get to read a novel for the first time once.