''Zone One'' is a 2011 novel by American author

Colson Whitehead Arch Colson Chipp Whitehead (born November 6, 1969) is an American novelist. He is the author of nine novels, including his 1999 in literature, 1999 debut ''The Intuitionist''; ''The Underground Railroad (novel), The Underground Railroad'' (2016) ...

. Blending elements of

genre fiction In the book-trade, genre fiction, also known as formula fiction, or commercial fiction,Girolimon, Mars"Types of Genres: A Literary Guide" Southern New Hampshire University, 11 December 2023. Retrieved 3 September 2024. encompasses fictional ...

and

literary fiction Literary fiction, serious fiction, high literature, or artistic literature, and sometimes just literature, encompasses fiction books and writings that are more character-driven rather than plot-driven, that examine the human condition, or that are ...

, the novel takes place in a

post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction are genres of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astronom ...

United States ravaged by

zombies A zombie (Haitian French: ; ; Kikongo: ''zumbi'') is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. In modern popular culture, zombies appear in horror genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore ...

. Whitehead has stated that the novel was partly an attempt to return to his adolescent fascination with horror writer

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...

and science fiction icon

Isaac Asimov Isaac Asimov ( ; – April 6, 1992) was an Russian-born American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. During his lifetime, Asimov was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers, along with Robert A. H ...

Plot summary

A virus has laid waste to civilization, turning the infected into flesh-eating and mortally contagious zombies. But events have stabilized, and the rebuilding process has begun. Over a three-day span, "Mark Spitz" and his fellow "sweepers"—other survivors of the apocalypse—patrol portions of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, eliminating zombies as part of a mission to make the city habitable once again. Flashbacks pepper the narrative, explaining how Mark Spitz survived the apocalypse to date and got his nickname along the way.

Critical reception

Reviewing ''Zone One'' for ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...

'', Tom Chiarella wrote that "Whitehead brilliantly reformulates an old-hat genre to ask the epidemic question of a teetering history—the question about the possibility of survival" and called the book "one of the best books of the year." While Chiarella's review establishes the high-water mark of praise heaped on the book, most critics were similarly impressed.

Glen Duncan Glen Duncan is a British author born in 1965 in Bolton, Lancashire, England to an Anglo-Indian family. He studied philosophy and literature at the universities of Lancaster and Exeter. In 1990 Duncan moved to London, where he worked as a books ...

, who likened the pairing of genre and literary fiction to "an intellectual dating a porn star," concluded that ''Zone One'' "is a cool, thoughtful and, for all its ludic violence, strangely tender novel, a celebration of modernity and a pre-emptive wake for its demise." Charlie Jane Anders observed, "this is one zombie story that nobody's ever told before," and opined, "the book pays off marvelously." Duncan and Anders both had criticisms of the novel, however. Duncan, took issue with the prose, writing, " ylistically the novel takes a while to settle," but that when it does, "Whitehead writes with economy, texture and punch." Anders wondered if the heavy, unpredictable, and sometimes indiscernible use of flashbacks represented a deliberate attempt "to deny the reader any feeling of narrative satisfaction, through denseness and obfuscation." The novel was a ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' bestseller.

Plot summary

Critical reception

References

Further reading