Paul Is Undead [Paperback]

Alan Goldsher (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 22, 2010

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, IT'S TIME TO REALLY MEET THE BEATLES.

For John Lennon, a young, idealistic zombie guitarist with dreams of global domination, Liverpool seems the ideal place to form a band that could take over the world. In an inspired act, Lennon kills and reanimates local rocker Paul McCartney, kicking off an unstoppable partnership. With the addition of newly zombified guitarist George Harrison and drummer/Seventh Level Ninja Lord Ringo Starr, the Beatles soon cut a swath of bloody good music and bloody violent mayhem across Europe, America, and the entire planet.

In this searing oral history, discover how the Fab Four climbed to the Toppermost of the Poppermost while stealing the hearts, ears, and brains of smitten teenage girls. Learn the tale behind a spiritual journey that resulted in the dismemberment of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Marvel at the seemingly indestructible quartet’s survival of a fierce attack by Eighth Level Ninja Lord Yoko Ono. And find out how the boys escaped eternal death at the hands of England’s greatest zombie hunter, Mick Jagger.

Through all this, one mystery remains: Can the Beatles sublimate their hunger for gray matter, remain on top of the charts, and stay together for all eternity? After all, three of the Fab Four are zombies, and zombies live forever. . . .

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Are readers ready for a world in which the Beatles just wanna eat your brains? Goldsher (Hard Bop Academy) thinks so, and he may be right. In this humor-filled splatterfest, the rise and fall of the zombie Beatles unfolds through eyewitness accounts, newspaper clippings, and interviews. Violence and music go hand-in-hand as the zombiefied Lennon, Harrison, and McCartney fight, eat, and rock their way to fame and popularity while ninja lord Ringo Starr tries to keep them out of trouble. Nothing can stop them--not even a vampiric Pete Best, zombie-killing Mick Jagger, rival ninja Yoko Ono, or bad reviews. In fact, their only enemies may be one another, as personal conflicts threaten to break them up for good. Roughly paralleling the real-world career of the Beatles, this alternate history reimagines successes, failures, and rivalries with over-the-top bizarro charm.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Ladies and gentlemen, meet the zombie Beatles. In Goldsher's alternate universe, the British Invasion takes on new meaning as undead Paul, John, and George and ninja Ringo Starr take the U.S. by storm. Music journalist Goldsher begins the story by “interviewing” Lennon's mother, Julia, who died in 1958 but was reanimated by John the following week. Zombie Lennon's fateful meeting with McCartney in 1957 is another bloody affair, in which the merging of their gray matter creates an unparalleled songwriting team. Shortly thereafter, with the zombification of George and the addition of Ringo, the band begins its assault on the States. Things start to go awry when Lennon begins dating Ninja Lord Yoko Ono and the Zombies (led by non-zombie Rod Argent) begin to hunt them down. The horror mash-up publishing craze is still spreading like a plague, and while some of its most popular products seem like easy ways to digest the classics, this clever take on the subgenre will bring music nerds into its fandom. --Carlos Orellana

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Gallery Books; Original edition (June 22, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439177929
• ISBN-13: 978-1439177921
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #118,974 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Novelist/ghostwriter/journalist Alan Goldsher is the author of the forthcoming Beatles/horror/humor mash-up "Paul is Undead: The British Zombie Invasion" (Pocket Books, 2010), as well as "Hard Bop Academy: The Sidemen of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers" (Hal Leonard, 2002), "Modest Mouse: A Pretty Good Read" (St. Martin's Press, 2006), and the music-themed novel "Jam" (Permanent Press, 2002). "Midnight Movie," his collaboration with director Tobe Hooper ("The Texas Chainsaw Massacre") will be published by Three Rivers Press in 2011. Written as A.M. Goldsher, his chicklit novels "The True Naomi Story," "Reality Check," and "Today's Special" were released by Little Black Dress Books in the U.K. and Marabout in France in 2008, with "No Ordinary Girl" to come in 2011.

As a ghostwriter, Alan has collaborated on projects with comedians Bernie Mac and Fred Willard; actors Michael Madsen and Robert Englund; NFL running backs Thomas and Julius Jones; former NBA player John Salley; Ironman triathlete Sarah Reinertsen, 2008 "Top Chef" winner Stephanie Izard; and "American Idol" contestant Sanjaya Malakar, among other notable celebrities and public figures.

Alan's sportswriting has been seen in ESPN The Magazine, ESPN.com, NBA.com, and ChicagoBulls.com, and he reviews books for Kirkus.

During his 10-plus years as a professional bassist, Goldsher recorded with Janet Jackson, Cypress Hill, and Naughty by Nature; toured the world with Digable Planets; and performed at the 1994 Grammy Awards.

Alan lives and writes in Chicago.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Clever Title, Cool Concept, But Mediocre Book, August 20, 2010

By 

Donald J. Bingle "orphyte" (Saint Charles, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Paul Is Undead (Paperback)

There's no doubt about it. A clever title and a cool concept can sell a book to publishers and customers alike, but while there are highlights of inspired silliness (most revolving around Ringo's Ninja status), the execution of the book as a whole left me flat. The author certainly knows his Beatles history and personnel, so those who know already about the "butcher's cover" and the various "fifth Beatles" will get a bit more out of the book than the average (or younger) fan, but there are two key problems that pull the tale away from ever becoming great. First, because it is a zombie version of Beatles history, there is no plot to propell the story forward--merely a chronological recitation of what happened in what year. Second, the author goes for gross-out and scatalogical humor at every opportunity, which gets old fast. By the way, when you get to the end of the book, you will find that the incident referenced in the preface to hook the reader is never even mentioned again and seems internally inconsistent with the zombie mythology elsewhere in the book--which feels like a bit of a cheat. Fun in parts, icky in lots of parts, but lightweight and tedious in too many parts.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Brilliantly Bawdy, Brain-eating Fun, June 21, 2010

By 

Librarian - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Paul Is Undead (Paperback)

I'm not entirely convinced PAUL IS UNDEAD isn't an elaborate ruse.

I have a theory.

What if Lewis Carroll, Salvador Dali, Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright and George Romero ran a Beatles History Fan Club and Hunter S. Thompson kept the minutes from each meeting? Would it be that hard for Alan Goldsher to steal those minutes and seamlessly piece them together?

Hmm...I wonder, because PAUL IS UNDEAD full of that kind of bawdy brilliance.

Mick Jagger, Zombie Hunter? Check.

Ringo Star, Ninja Lord? Check.

Dismembered Body Parts? Double Check. (I'm still giggling over each reference to `beans & franks' or `plonkers')

But fear not, PAUL IS UNDEAD is not mere frippery. The personalities, the events, they mythos of the Beatles are still here, meticulously catalogued. Goldsher has simply taken the authorized history of the Fab Four and coated it with a thick varnish of blood and brains.

The book chronicles the band's rise to the Toppermost of the Poppermost all the way from the Liverpool days to the to the maniac massacre at Shea Stadium to the Battle Royale with Yoko in the Abbey Road Studios. The reader need not understand the intricacies of Beatles lore to enjoy the narrative, but knowing Beatles' fans will wink at Goldsher's insider jests. Indeed, there are plenty of honest moments, wrapped in jaw-dropping tomfoolery.

Yes, for the connoisseur of both the Beatles and fresh brains, PAUL IS UNDEAD is just the dish.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More please, June 23, 2010

By 

Cheryl Koch (CO) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Paul Is Undead (Paperback)

What do a famous music band, The Beatles and zombies have to do with each other...a lot when Paul is Undead! Yep, you read this right. The Beatles may have come from England and but they were they were not of this world.

John Lennon was already a zombie when he helped formed the Beatles. He was getting better at turning others into zombies without anyone suspecting anything was up. John later recruits Paul. They both go in search of Ninja warrior and talented drummer, Ringo. Eventually, the group obtains George. The Beatles are on the rise. Though, they will have to watch themselves from Mick Jagger. Mick hates zombies and eliminates them every chance he gets.

I really had a blast reading this book. The hilarious plot, wild antics of Paul, Ringo, John, George and the great illustrations made Paul the Undead a pure delight to read. I had a smile on my face pretty much the whole time I was reading this book. Paul, Ringo, John, George were so funny. I liked reading how each one would share their perceptive on the details of what was happening at that moment or during a specific situation. Mick Jagger as a zombie hunter...LOL. Paul the Undead is a zombie chomping, brain munching, gut busting, good time! I can't wait to read Mr. Alan Goldsher's next novel, Midnight Movie.