What book would you take with you at the end of the world? What book would you carry, occupying precious space in a pack, taking away room for other resources like food, blankets, weapons or water, and adding extra weight? If you're Ellie, a 14-year-old survivor of a mushroom monster plague, that book is "No Pun Intended: Volume Too." Welcome to "The Last of Us" book club. Population: puns.
Yes, the book that young Ellie (Bella Ramsey) totes with her on her journey across the devastated United States, dodging clickers along the way, is a joke book, the second in a series by one Will Livingston. The books are not real. Neither is Livingston, but the fact that these are what Ellie clings to through thick, thin and fungal speaks volumes (heh) about how we view childhood and how we relate to each other, even in a hell state.
