What’s Breathers About?
Andy just died, and waking up as a member of the undead isn’t going real well. His parents hate him. Society reviles him. All his friends have turned away from him. Everything changes once he joins an Undead Anonymous group, and finds there are things worth trying to live for.
Our Breathers Review
OK. I hate when this happens.
I read this book about a month ago, but held off on reviewing this bad boy until I could get my thoughts in order, which meant a re-read. So I re-read it.
After two back-to-back devourings, I think it is safe to say that BREATHERS, in my humble opinion, has established itself as one of the more unique entries into the Zombie canon, and for that, this is worth your attention.
S.G. Browne takes the Zombie mythos, and uses it as a metaphor for Civil Rights. I know that sounds weird, but Browne writes with just enough earnest whimsy, that he makes it work. Andy Warner is your typical literary everyman who, along with his wife, dies in a car crash. Except he comes back to a world that treats Zombies about as well as stray animals, if not just a bit worse. Imagine awakening into a world where people were free to beat on you without fear of reprisal, law enforcement rounded you up and kept you in kennels, and people who once loved you now look upon with disgust and distaste. It’s in this setting that our hero awakes, and has to come to terms with his new world order. When he joins an Undead-Anonymous group, and meets up with a rather eclectic group of other zombies, that’s when he finds his voice.
So to speak.
Let me be perfectly clear. BREATHERS is unlike anything you will find on the shelves. It’s funny, touching, sad and completely engrossing. It’s not about your standard Zombie motif of munch-munch-scream-run so much as it is about getting to know these normal people as they adjust to new rules to living. It’s all about character development. There’s an underlying tragedy to the proceedings that brings a heaviness to the narrative, but that works to the story’s benefit. This is a book about Zombies that you could recommend to your Mom, Girlfriend, or anyone who typically doesn’t “do†Zombies.
S.G. Browne writes like a cross between Christopher Moore and Chuck Pahlaniuk, if Chuck had been hugged more as a kid. His prose is sharp and witty, light-hearted without being false. There is real humor in not only the situations, but in Andy’s reaction to them. I laughed while reading the book, and I rarely ever do that. He is definitely someone to add to your “to-read†list.
There really isn’t much to criticize here. If you pick up this novel, which I would wholly recommend you do, and you are expecting a standard Zombie bloodbath with stock characters and mindless subtext-free violence, you are going to be sorely disappointed. This isn’t that kind of book. If you know that going into it, you are going to find a smart, funny and utterly original work that definitely deserves your time.
Where can I buy Breathers?
You can buy Breathers on Amazon.
