Novel review: Zone One, by Colson Whitehead

As someone just wrapping up his own zombie novella, I felt this one was just begging me to read it. So I did. Here you go:

Colson Whitehead's novel Zone One attempts a difficult move - writing a genre novel with 'literary' intentions. Leaving aside what 'literary' might mean, we're left with the question of whether a) the zombie plot is any good and b) what the book 'reads' like.

The good news is that the central idea of this book is outstanding- a plucky band of paramilitaries attempts to clear Manhattan for re-settlement after a zombie holocaust has brought civilization to a standstill. The central character is a non-special guy who goes by the nom de apocalypse Mark Spitz - a name that's left unexplained for about three-quarters of the book. If you're the type who can't wait three-quarters of a book to find out why the central character is named Mark Spitz, that's the first clue this book isn't for you.

Mark Spitz is, in his own words, a solid B student, who got through life on his special skill of being completely un-special, attracting minimal attention, and being very ordinary. This is his survival skill, in fact, a tongue-in-cheek attempt to explain why when the zombie hordes inevitably converge on whatever hiding space he's in, he will slip away, un-noticed. If that's the type of humor that's for you, then you'll love this book.

As these examples show, Whitehead's execution is a bit off-setting. It may be its off-settingness which leads this to be labeled a 'literary' book. There are endless digressions into family history, a cyclical plot, flashes back and forwards in time, all of which is drenched in dense, artsy prose that is often a bit more than is called for. But, in his defense, this is a novel about zombie apocalypse, a topic where you have to come big or go home.

Whitehead has definitely read Pynchon and David Foster Wallace, and his social commentary runs towards the concept that America, and by extension the after-apocalypse cabal that runs the reconstruction, is under the control of jingo-heavy spin-masters more interested in PR than in actually fixing real problems. Just like modern America, in other words. It's a nearly shopworn conceit done better by others, one that a zombie scenario neither really enhances nor expands upon, though it leads to a final scene that is as zombie-tastic as any zombie climax you can think of.

Don't get me wrong - Zone One is a fun romp, and compulsively page-turnable, though part of the page-turning spree may be due to your glossing over the repetitive digressions and nearly-the-same flashbacks of previous 'safe' houses that continually interrupt the real plot. It's a book that could easily lose a few pounds. Whitehead has a real wit and a strong power of observation not common in contemporary novels, zombie or otherwise. But overall, this is a read for slumming snoots or zombie fan-boys with aspirations of snoot-hood, and the purple prose and endless digressions can make it a slow slog for many readers.