World War Z/YMMV

• Crazy Awesome: Lobotomizer: Shovel-Axe. 'Nuff said
• Hate Dumb: this is less of a matter of opinion because there's not an element of America and humanity in general that Brooks doesn't rip into angrily. Chances are you disagree with something here.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Barack Obama is implied to be the "first choice" for Vice President of the bipartisan war-time U.S. government, but is passed over in favor of Howard Dean. Two years later in the real world, Obama is elected President of the United States.
  • Minor and slightly debatable example in the book's description of Cuba. Fidel Castro clung onto power throughout WWZ and only submitted when social reforms turned Cuba into a post-war Iceland, economically speaking. Of course, he calmly relinquished his position to his brother temporarily the same year the book was released, and permanently two years after that.
    • Admittedly, Castro was never "forced from power", he eventually just retired due to declining health in his old age, and the government he started smoothly transitioned to his brother. So he'd still have stayed in power, though Brooks couldn't predict his health...although if you add up the numbers, the epidemic seems to start around 2013, and due to simple math Castro would be pretty old then.
  • The soccer mom makes reference to her daughter being a fan of Jamie Lynn Spears, wearing soccer cleats with her brand on them. Just one year after the book came out, Spears' career was destroyed by her Teen Pregnancy scandal.
• Idiot Ball/Smart Ball: A good portion of the world, especially America, seems to be holding the former for the first act, then dropping it, then eventually picking up the latter. The really weird thing is that in some cases, it's implied to be the same people.
  • For example, the US had intelligence and black ops fighting zombies before they went critical. Then when the Battle of Yonkers rolled around, they go for Hollywood Tactics for the media's benefit instead of actually effective ones. Several years later, the administrators have somehow got their stuff together and are now extremely effective. At no point is the difference really explained.
• Magnificent Bastard: Fidel Castro, even more so than in real life. When it was clear his country was turning against him, he gave up his position and endorsed the new institution, essentially becoming the father of the new government, and a national hero.
• Nightmare Fuel: Depends on what wigs out the reader, but there's a wide selection.
  • The people receiving infected organs via transplants and transforming into zombies days, weeks, even months later.
    • The implication of all those women being infected after receiving donated eggs and/or sperm is even worse.
      • Are you thinking that those women got pregnant with zombie fetuses? Don't worry, according to the zombie survival guide, all zombies are sterile so none of those women could have gotten pregnant. But they all died or turned into zombies though.
  • North Korea. The entire population moves underground to escape the zombies. Either they're still alive and think everyone on the surface is dead, or they've all become zombies and are trying to dig their way back up to the surface. You choose your own nightmare.
  • Don't forget the description of fighting in the Catacombs under Paris. Difficult to breathe, unable to see, never knowing when a zombie will grab you and drag you to a watery grave . . .
  • The baby zombie, still tied up in the carrier, snapping at the woman as she passed by during the crashed pilot's story.
• Paranoia Fuel: The entire premise of a zombie apocalypse and the all-too-realistic depictions of our governments failing to handle it is enough to keep you awake for a very long time.
  • On the other hand the beyond moronic way things are dealt with could temper some of the fuel unless you think the sheer stupidity could happen in real life which could just make it worse
• Squick: A lot. Particularly the descriptions of "digested" human remains found inside the zombies. And the infection-by-organ-transplant vignette.
• Tear Jerker: The feral kids. Todd Wainio said that nothing screams louder than a feral who had been shot with a PIE round. Those kids spent years on their own, having been starved and watching their parents die, only to die a painful death. Even in the post zombie world, they're basically broken shells of children who will never get past their trauma.
  • The astronauts.
  • In combination with a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming and Crowning Moment of Awesome, especially if you're British, Queen Elizabeth follows her father's example, refuses to flee and is implied to have died for it. "The highest of distincions is service to others" indeed.
  • Brooks' "I love you, Mom" dedication. His mother, Anne Bancroft, had recently died when the book was published.