Being a big fan of zombies, this is the ultimate book for me. It actually is a very interesting piece of political observation of how the world would react to a chain of horrible events, with zombies of course. I love how each character interviewed is given their own personalities and you'd actually believe these are real interviews if something like this ever happened. I also enjoyed the Zombie Survival Guide by the same author Max Brooks, but this story is more involving. Good stuff, good stuff.
*raises hand* I picked this book up at (err) a midnight bookstore party for the release of Harry Potter 7, thinking it might be good for a boring vacation. I read a bit of the wonderfully creepy first chapter, and from there I was hooked. Like you said, I love how Max Brooks takes the time to detail exactly how our modern-day public would react to such a disaster. (Not to mention- it's a disaster, but with ZOMBIES! Yay for awesomeness.) All the 'characters' are very well-written, and I like how even though it's written like a non-fiction book, it still manages to act as an exciting adventure and hold many underlying themes varying on fear and hope.
i'm a massive zombie fan. i've read World War Z twice and i love the realism that Max Brooks puts into the story. apparently Brad Pitt's production company will be turning it into a film some time this year with a possible release date of 2009.
Also a huge fan of zombie. However, I have yet to read either book... I'll probably read them over the summer. I've just been hearing too much good about it to ignore.