Max Brooks is the author behind cult hits such as The Zombie Survival Guide and World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War.
Born in New York City, Brooks was raised by the son of writer, director, producer, and actor Mel Brooks and actress Anne Bancroft. He’s a graduate of Pitzer College, where he majored in history.
Brooks was a writer for Saturday Night Live from 2001 to 2003. He has acted on shows such as Roseanne, Pacific Blue, 7th Heaven, and To Be or Not to Be. His career as a voice-actor also resulted in his voice being featured in the animated shows Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, Justice League, and Batman Beyond. He also appeared on Spike TV’s Deadliest Warrior, where he represented the zombie team in the episode “Vampires vs Zombies”.
His clear obsession with zombies shows through with the commitment he put into his most known work. Max Brooks shot to fame with his books The Zombie Survival Guide and World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War.
In The Zombie Survival Guide, Brooks details numerous “cases” of zombie outbreaks and how to survive numerous scenarios using a variety of weapons and tactics. The book also describes the differences between movie zombies, “voodoo” zombies, and zombies created by Solanum, the fictional virus featured in the book. The Zombie Survival Guide was featured on The New York Times Best Seller’s list as #24 on March 21, 2010 . Due to the popularity of the book, a comic adaptation was created, entitled The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks. It was written by Brooks and published on October 6, 2009 by Random House. Ibraim Roberson illustrated the comic book.
Following the success of The Zombie Survival Guide, Brooks published World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War in 2006 to much critical acclaim. The book features several individual short stories that take place in various locations around the world during different stages of the zombie apocalypse. The audiobook version of World War Z featured a star-studded cast including Mark Hamill, John Turturro, and Alan Alda, winning it an Audie Award in 2007. A film based on the book is currently in production and set for a December 2012 release. The film version will star Brad Pitt as the lead protagonist.
Brooks wrote the introduction for the hardcover collectors edition of zombie miniseries Raise the Dead in 2007.
In 2010 Brooks published The New Dead, several previously unpublished zombie stories including an additional World War Z story. Also in 2010, he write the five-issue comic book mini-series G.I. Joe: Hearts & Minds.