Richard Buzzell's Debut Novel Captures 'Occupy' Spirit

BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - Nov 23, 2011) - "ZombieStop Parade" (www.zombiestop.wordpress.com), Richard Buzzell's new debut novel, takes readers on an entertaining journey into the minds of some of the real-life 99-percenter protesters -- especially the millennials among them.

ZombieStopperUno narrates this tale of two college-age friends who operate the ZombieStop website. Through the site, they use satire in an attempt to deconstruct the ideologies they believe enable 1 percent of the population to impose toxic levels of inequality on the other 99 percent. The ZombieStop site provides a forum for young people looking to break free from the zombie-like thinking of those who have fallen for Wall Street's lobbying efforts.

Up until a few months ago, the prospect of a popular uprising against the "gang of spielers" on Wall Street was limited to the realm of fiction. Now many people are wondering if the Occupy protests will prove to be a seminal moment or a false start. This is one of the same questions faced by the ZombieStoppers in the book.

"Currently, the Occupy Wall Street protests are being driven primarily by the foul smell coming from America's financial system. For these protests to mature and grow they'll need both greater media-savvy and more sociological sophistication. This is what the ZombieStop story is all about," says Buzzell.

The book is written in a "fast fiction" format that respects the desire of busy readers to get to the point. "The style of the story derives more from oral storytelling than from literary conventions. To me it just seems more real that way," Buzzell says.

John Valeri, reviewing the book for the Hartford Books Examiner, writes, "...ambitiously (and quite amusingly) endeavors to explore the current financial crisis."

Although the intention of the book is not to serve as a training manual for producing "sound-bite samurai" to engage in intellectual street fighting, the author is not going to complain if it gets used that way.

About Richard Buzzell

Richard Buzzell, a devotee of popular culture and modern media, writes the Zombiestop blog (zombiestop.wordpress.com), a satirical look at the media landscape.