Join Arlington Public Library in a bookclub to unlearn racism.

Both spine chilling and playfully cerebral, Colson Whitehead's "Zone One" bril­liantly subverts the zombie genre’s conventions and deconstructs the zombie myth for the twenty-first century. 

In this wry take on the post-apocalyptic horror novel, a pandemic has devastated the planet. The plague has sorted humanity into two types: the uninfected and the infected, the living and the living dead.

Now the plague is receding, and Americans are busy rebuild­ing civilization under orders from the provisional govern­ment based in Buffalo. Their top mission: the resettlement of Manhattan. Armed forces have successfully reclaimed the island south of Canal Street—aka Zone One—but pockets of plague-ridden squatters remain. While the army has eliminated the most dangerous of the infected, teams of civilian volunteers are tasked with clearing out a more innocuous variety—the “malfunctioning” stragglers, who exist in a catatonic state, transfixed by their former lives.

Mark Spitz is a member of one of the civilian teams work­ing in lower Manhattan. Alternating between flashbacks of Spitz’s desperate fight for survival during the worst of the outbreak and his present narrative, the novel unfolds over three surreal days, as it depicts the mundane mission of straggler removal, the rigors of Post-Apocalyptic Stress Disorder, and the impossible job of coming to grips with the fallen world.

And then things start to go wrong.
 

This book discussion will be led by the Arlington Public Library group Beyond the Hashtag: Unlearning Racism, One Book at a Time. This group fosters a sustainable discussion around systemic racism while exploring these complex social dynamics through direct literary analysis and conversation.  

Instructions to join the Zoom meeting will be emailed the day before the meeting to all registrants. New members are always welcome. You don't have to read the book to join, but it is encouraged.  

18+. Registration required.  

• Location campus
• Audience:
  • Events for Adults
  • Good for Adults Age 55+
  • Good for Parents
• Categories:
  • Book Club