I Think Writer Isaac Marion Is Neat (And You Should, Too)

Let me start out by saying, I am not one of those "zombie people." You know, the ones who have ten different "funny" zombie t-shirts? I think maybe it's a boy thing? I don't know. I confess that I've never read The Zombie Survival Guide, and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies has been sitting on my shelf untouched for at least a year. I will admit, though, I think The Walking Dead is a good fucking show. But I digress.

My point is, I'm not really the type to pick up a zombie book. However, after reading a couple reviews of Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion, I was intrigued. A zombie love story...but with a twist.  Here's the official book summary, which I suppose time and effort went into so I won't bother trying to come up with my own:

A zombie who yearns for a better life ends up falling in love—with a human—in this astonishingly original debut novel.

R is a zombie. He has no memories, no identity, and no pulse, but he has dreams. He doesn’t enjoy killing people; he enjoys riding escalators and listening to Frank Sinatra. He is a little different from his fellow Dead.

Not just another zombie novel, Warm Bodies is funny, scary, and deeply moving.

Don't let the quote from Stephanie Meyer on the cover deter you! It really is a great book, even if that idiot also thinks so. Warm Bodies is pleasantly honest, from the gory details of an insatiable appetite for flesh to the tragic love of young people in a fucked up world.  It's completely depressing at times (just like life) but then it gives you that tiny spark of, "well...maybe," and it's that spark that makes this book truly special. Because that's the whole thing, isn't it? We all have fucked up memories and failed dreams and regrets and desires and it's that little bit of hope that still keeps us from becoming...well, zombies.  Isaac Marion skillfully draws you in (I can't believe this is his first novel) and shows that hope and love and death and the apocalypse are all pretty much inevitable, but that doesn't mean you have to give up.

Like everything on the planet, Warm Bodies is being made into a movie, which is pretty awesome. It's staring Nicholas Hoult, who is also awesome, even though he makes me feel really wrong, because I remember him as that kid in About A Boy, and now he's all hot and shit. But yes, he's got a good actor who is also enticing jail bait as the star. Pretty damn cool. 

Plus, Isaac Marion is pretty effing funny. Warm Bodies, though consistently poignant, also makes you laugh. And he's funny in real life, too. I cannot get enough of his Twitter, because it's full of gems like this and this and this. And my fave:

I mean, c'mon.

Sure, he's a total hipster, complete with the RV and the haircut and I'm pretty sure he lives in Seattle or something, but this guy is not a cliche. This is not Twilight: Now With Zombies!  It's a good book, and you should pick it up. He has a Facebook and a blog as well. I promise I don't know him - I just think he's neat (and I might have a bit of a book crush, but whatever). You should think he's neat, too, because I have impeccable taste.  Anyways, check out Warm Bodies and see for yourself. Or don't, losers. And Isaac, if you happen to see this, sorry for being a creeper and stealing a picture from your Facebook account.