Z.e.o a Zombies Guide to Getting A(Head) in Business

by Scott Kenemore

Hardback book, Z.E.O is a small, hardback book that’s part humor, part business survival guide and part “for dummies” book. Presentation has sidebars, zombies in the workplace illustrations and chapters that one suspects would make excellent PowerPoint presentations. Non fiction. Because of the over-the-top comical writing , Z.E.O is really a good gift book, particularly for office Secret Santas or zombie fans, gag gifts to college grads, because the kind of person who would adore this book should own it, not borrow it. Gory illustrations

Genres: Zombies, Humor, Horror, Audiobook

272 pages, Hardcover

First published September 8, 2009

About the author

Scott Kenemore lives in Chicago. He attended Kenyon College and Columbia University. He is the drummer for the pop-punk band The Blissters."

Reviews

[Holly · Rating 2 out of 5]

The only reason I read this book is because I am participating in an alphabet reading challenge and I needed a book that started with a Z. It was also free on Audible this month.

I have no idea what genre this was meant to be. It’s written like a non-fiction self-help book, but it’s obviously meant to be satire while still making a social commentary. It didn’t appeal to my taste in humor. There were some cute comments here and there, but it was never funny enough to make me laugh. As a result, It felt way too long and repetitive for what it was. In my opinion, this is a book that should have been a short story. Or maybe just a meme.

But, if a satire self-help book about how to be the ZEO (CEO) of a zombie corporation appeals to you, then this book is for you.

[Vikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weirdly entertaining business book. Humourous but with some tincture of reality in it.

[AttackGirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastically creative, with appropriate business sense….

[Hope · Rating 3 out of 5]

A satire of self-help Business book. Clever at times, but lack-luster.

[Patrick D'Orazio · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a follow up to The Zen of Zombie, which I found to be a highly amusing take on self-help guides that speaks to the merits of living your life like the humble zombie. This book takes a whack at business manuals with the same logic: become a zombie and you will climb the corporate ladder rather quickly.

While I appreciated the effort here, and got a kick out of the idea of reversing what many short stories have done (office drones are in fact zombies, willing to do mindless, repetitive tasks and never care whether or not they move ahead in the work world), I just don't think I bought into this one quite as much as I did with Zen. Certainly, we are provided with the same overall idea: zombies don't let anything get in their way, they are slow, methodical, and have only one objective. They don't care what anyone else thinks, and they infect everyone else around them with the same "enthusiasm". But that idea got repetitive over the course of 254 pages.

I know this book is meant to be a parody, and I did like it because it makes a game attempt at skewering other business advice books, but the author makes a lot of presumptions: you will no longer be focused on worthless meetings and useless tasks and will zero in like a zombie on the important stuff...and because of that you will automatically become the most productive and feared employee of the organization.

I am not saying this wasn't a creative take on things, and oddly enough, some of the author's ideas actually make some sense as far as getting ahead in business, but again, it roughly boils down to "zombies never lose sight of their single goal: to eat brains, so nothing can ever stop them from achieving that objective". I did like the one year plan at the end of the book for becoming the new ZEO of your company. It was amusing to see how the author would have you rather rapidly take over the population of not only your corporation with zombie like efficiency but the entire world as well.

Overall, this is a fun title, but again, it sort of repeats the same refrain quite a bit. As with Zen, it has great artwork and is quite funny in places. I just wish it had as much to offer the world as The Zen of Zombies did.

[Robert Beveridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scott Kenemore, Z. E. O.: A Zombie's Guide to Getting A(Head) in Business (Skyhorse Publishing, 2009)

Being the cheesy-zombie fan I am (my computer's wallpaper is a picture titled “Vegan Zombie”, with a shambling undead moaning “graaaaaaains...”), I fully expected this book to be all that and a barrel of monkeys. What I didn't expect was that it would also be the best business book I've read in many a year. I do not mean that in any sort of flip manner; couched inside the silly zombie puns and ultimately unworkable plan for taking over the world (or your company) in the space of a year is a whole lot of good, solid advice drawn from Sun Tzu, Machiavelli, and the like, and a critique of other pop-psychology business writers that actually makes sense. (His digression on Chris Anderson's bestseller The Long Tail is both hilarious and spot-on.) If you think about it, Kenemore's thesis makes perfect sense; the zombie, as depicted in popular culture since the days of Romero, is a creature that has a single goal, and will stop at nothing to achieve that goal. How better to get yourself noticed in the business world? This would be the perfect time to go off on an analysis about Romero's parallel between the zombie and consumer culture, and conclude that Kenemore is actually playing right into Romero's hands. Please just imagine you've read six or seven paragraphs of that nonsense. (They were exceptionally convincing, don't you think?) Of course Kenemore's playing into Romero's hands; he's saying that since you've got to be a wage slave, the kind of person Romero has been railing against in his movies since 1968, you may as well do it the right way. Imagine Dennis Hopper in Land of the Dead if he'd been zombified instead of blown up, and you've got a good idea of what Kenemore's on about here. If you're stuck in the world of corporate culture, you could do a lot worse than keeping a copy of this on your desk. *** ½

[Michele Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reviewed for MonsterLibrarian.com

Z.E.O is a small, off sized book that's part humor, part business survival guide and part "for dummies" book. Presentation seems to be as important as content, with sidebars, zombies in the workplace illustrations and chapters that one suspects would make excellent PowerPoint presentations. Nonfiction, yet completely silly, Z.E.O does, indeed, make a strong correlation between the sort of minds that conquer the business world and zombies, so it's not an entirely kind metaphor (though it has an amusing point).
Because of the over-the-top comical writing and the lack of a story per se, Z.E.O isn't really a library kind of a book. What it is is a gift book, particularly for office Secret Santas or zombie fans, or even not-quite gag gifts to college grads. Z.E.O. shouldn't really be part of public collection, at the very least because the kind of person who would adore this book should own it, not borrow it.
Contains: Gory illustrations

[Stefanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll let the authors summarize this one: "Zombies. Original gangsters. Walking viruses. Terrors of the graveyard and the boardroom alike. They have so much to teach us . . . and the applicability of their life lessons to the world of business can no longer be denied."

I really kind of loved this one. Anyone who zombiefies the 48 laws of power get a major tip of my geek hat. Does the premise get a little tired? Yes, but the zombie/business mix works surprsingly well. The first half of the book lays out the argument for zombie business practices, and then the second half puts the lessons to work by showing you how to orchestrate your figurative (or is it?) zombie takeover of your workplace. Pithy, wise, insightful, and fun. Throw on Jonathan Coulton's "Re: Your Brains" and enjoy.

[Morgan Hugo · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an anti-business business book. The author uses advice that other business writers use, but in the exteme. I believe the author's point is clear-if you fully follow a self-help guru's advice, you willl become a zombie. It is then up to you, as the reader, is to decide if all you want in life is brains and zombiefication of the corporate world.

[Steven J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually a better business book than you would think! Basically it says that zombies have one goal: Brains. You have goals. The only difference is drive! Nothing stops a zombie so nothing should stop you!

[Nikki "The Crazie Betty" V. · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Some good concepts and some that I don't agree with.