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World War Z: The Complete Edition

By: Max Brooks
Narrated by: Max Brooks, Alan Alda, John Turturro, Rob Reiner, Mark Hamill, Alfred Molina, Simon Pegg, Henry Rollins, Martin Scorsese
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Publisher's summary

Audie Award Winner, Multi-Voiced Performance, 2014

World War Z: The Complete Edition (Movie Tie-in Edition): An Oral History of the Zombie War is a new version of Max Brooks' episodic zombie novel. The abridged versions of the original stories are now joined with new, unabridged recordings of the episodes that were not included in the original (abridged) version of the audiobook. These additional episodes feature a star-studded cast of narrators to coincide with the upcoming release of the film.

New narrators include Academy Award-winning director Martin Scorsese, Spiderman star Alfred Molina, The Walking Dead creator Frank Darabont, rapper Common, Firefly star Nathan Fillion, Shaun of the Dead's Simon Pegg, and members of the casts of Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Heroes and more! Max Brooks will be reprising his role as The Interviewer.

The original abridged edition, released in 2006, won an Audie Award for Best Multi-Voiced Performance. Original cast members include Alan Alda, Mark Hamill, Carl & Rob Reiner, and John Turturro.

In this new classic of apocalyptic fiction that feels all too real, the Zombie War came unthinkably close to eradicating humanity. The documentary-style oral history records the testimony of men, women, and sometimes children who came face-to-face with the living, or at least the undead, hell of that dreadful time.

Featuring five more hours of previously unrecorded content, this full-cast recording is read by F. Murray Abraham, Alan Alda, René Auberjonois, Becky Ann Baker, Dennis Boutsikaris, Bruce Boxleitner, Max Brooks, Nicki Clyne, Common, Denise Crosby, Frank Darabont, Dean Edwards, Mark Hamill, Nathan Fillion, Maz Jobrani, Frank Kamai, Michelle Kholos, John McElroy, Ade M’Cormack, Alfred Molina, Parminder Nagra, Ajay Naidu, Masi Oka, Steve Park, Kal Penn, Simon Pegg, Jürgen Prochnow, Carl Reiner, Rob Reiner, Henry Rollins, Jeri Ryan, Jay O. Sanders, Martin Scorsese, Paul Sorvino, David Ogden Stiers, Brian Tee, John Turturro, Eamonn Walker, Ric Young, and Waleed Zuaiter.

©2006 Max Brooks (P)2012 Random House
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Critic reviews

"What happens after the end of the world as we know it? Humanity rebuilds, and Kirby Impoinvil (Max Brooks) is there to help survivors make sense of what happened the day the zombies came. Helping author Brooks is a host of family friends, including Alan Alda, Nathan Fillion, Paul Sorvino, Rob Reiner, Carl Reiner, Simon Pegg, John Turturro, and many others. This audio production was released to coincide with the movie of the same name. That it’s a real drama is not surprising given the stellar cast. They don't just read the book, they act it out. And don’t think this is a teen thriller. The zombies serve as a backdrop to the larger story of how humankind reacts to such an unexpected and catastrophic invasion and the inevitable conclusion that millions must be sacrificed to save the rest. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2014. Audies Finalist." (AudioFile magazine)

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What listeners say about World War Z: The Complete Edition

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  • Overall
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    4 out of 5 stars

A Good Story with an All Star Cast but ABRIDGED

First off, I have to say I was “duped” into thinking this was finally the unabridged version of the book. I have a strong aversion to abridged books and probably would not have purchased this had I known it was not the complete work. Having said that, it was still a good listen despite the missing parts. If you never read the print version you probably won’t notice because the story is told in the style of firsthand accounts that are choppy by nature. Think Ken Burns doing a documentary on a worldwide zombie war. All-in-all it is a moving story that is less about zombies than the human spirit, good and bad.

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275 people found this helpful

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The full book

Ok this book is not really related to the movie at all. Zombies don’t run is a key point of the book.

The book is entertaining with a great full cast audio. I have listened to this book well over 20 times.

This is a retelling of wwz or wwz1 as the narrator says is a bad title since it implys a wwz2. (Mind you I wish the author would do a sequel book) We are left with so many questions about the fall of humanity and I wish they would do more.

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28 people found this helpful

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Meant for Audio

While last year's film adaption of World War Z had a few thrilling moments, it was still a pale, hollywoodized interpretation compared to Max Brooks' original vision of a world brought to the brink of total collapse. Inspired as much by the work of Studs Terkel as the zombie flicks of George A. Romero, the fact that the book is, as the subtitle notes, "An Oral History" cannot be emphasized enough. And it is this format, personal accounts as told to an interviewer, which makes World War Z a perfect story to tell in audiobook form. With military destruction and social upheaval occurring at a global level, a full cast (including Alan Alda, John Turturro, Simon Pegg and Martin Scorsese) allows listeners to hear the voices affected by the zombie apocalypse; to sit with their stories and reflect on the fragility of our own political and societal institutions.

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9 people found this helpful

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Phenomenally Well Done!

Critique of the human condition viewed through the unlikely and refreshingly original lens of a zombie apocalypse. Read by a star-studded cast. Worth a second and third listen. Extraordinarily well done.

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Oh, So This Is What the Movie Could Have Been?

It's really a shame that the movie of the same name may lead some people to ignore the book or Audible book, because this is a TREMENDOUS audiobook that you can get truly lost in.

Very well narrated, enjoyable but still poop-your-pants-intense. Maybe don't listen to it at work though like I did. A few times I was so engrossed in a story that someone touched my shoulder to get my attention and I nearly screamed.

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Abridged, but wonderfully read. Would recommend.

Excellent book, excellent reading. Unfortunately, abridged. Would still recommend for people to read. Buy it!

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Best zombie/fiction documentary book

finally a zombie story that actually makes sense! not only is the plot good but the voice actors are too notch. the book is a documentary about 10 years after the zombie War.

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Amazing

still one of the best books I have ever read, but hearing it in Audible format with an all star cast made it even more incredible.

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Love the way this book is Performed! Great cast.

The flow of this book is awsome I could listen to it over many times and never get bored with it.

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Good performance, kinda weird storyline.

I liked the book, and performance. It's hard to follow at first, But by the 3rd or so interview you get the hang of it.

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