Hey, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. Max Brooks has a really funny career. His most popular book, World War Z, is a meticulously research novel about a zombie plague and how society pretty much falls apart due to a lack of preparation and organization. It was such a well-researched book that it eventually led to a position at the Modern

War Institute at West Point where he lectures the military, you know, like actual troops

and brass about military preparedness.

Did you ever, in all these talks and discussions, did you ever get a question from somebody being like,

uh, who's this guy?

Oh, my God.

Oh, my God.

So I must be prepared.

When do I not get that question?

Yeah.

I usually get a lot of weird expressions and who is this guy and why is he here.

But sure enough, after I speak, after they've heard me out, there's always an individual

or a small crowd that comes around me and says, listen, we didn't know who you were.

We'd like you to come speak to our group.

Brooks's latest book is the last installment in his series based on the hit video game

Minecraft.

And we talk about how the game prepares kids for the real world.

And he also talks about dealing with his own trouble with reading growing up.

That's after the break.

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