You want zombies with that?

The teenage boy and his mom came into the store together, and the mom came right up and asked if we had a book that had something to do with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. “I can’t believe I’m asking for this, but that’s what he wants to read,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“Pride and Prejudice with Zombies?” I answered, looking beyond her to her son. “That’s probably the best-selling book in the country right now. We can’t keep it in stock. It sounds like it’s a lot of fun.” I always like to try to cultivate a little cred with teenagers and I figured the kid could stand somebody on his side right then.

Then to his mother, I said something to the effect that without the zombies, her son probably would never read Pride and Prejudice at all, and this way he was at least getting exposed to the story. I mean how many teenage boys read Pride and Prejudice?

I related this anecdote to my wife later that night, and this usually broad-minded woman reacted with horror (so to speak..) that someone had perverted Pride and Prejudice with zombies.

So here’s the question. Not to open a big can of worms, (or a big crate of zombies), but do the negative reactions to this book spring more from age or sex?
--Tom at The Regulator