Zeitoun

by Dave Eggers

WINNER OF THE AMERICAN BOOK AWARD AND THE LA TIMES BOOK AWARD

'Masterly. Brilliantly crafted, powerfully written and deftly reported' Guardian

The urgent and unforgettable true story of post-Katrina New Orleans . . .

In August 2005, as Hurricane Katrina blew in, the city of New Orleans has been abandoned by most citizens. But resident Abdulrahman Zeitoun, though his wife and family had gone, refused to leave. For days he traversed an apocalyptic landscape of flooded streets by canoe. But eventually he came to the attention of those 'guarding' this drowned city. Only then did Zeitoun's nightmare really begin.

Zeitoun is the powerful, ultimately uplifting true story of one man's courage when confronted with an awesome force of nature followed by more troubling human oppression.

'Eggers uses Zeitoun's eyes to report on America's reasonless post-Katrina world, Reminiscent of Gabriel Garcia Márquez's documentaries, this is a true story told with the skills of a master of fiction. Immensely readable' Independent

'The stuff of great narrative non-fiction. Fifty years from now, when people want to know what happened to this once-great city, they will be talking about a family named Zeitoun' The New York Times Book Review

• ISBN10: 0141046813
• ISBN13: 9780141046815
• Publish Date: 24 February 2011 (first published 2 July 2009)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Penguin Books Ltd
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 368
• Language: English

Reviews

[jamiereadthis]

This is an excellent book, an important book, and it’s completely emotionally exhausting. The impotent moral outrage of how quickly our lumbering freight train of democracy can break down, how useless a person is to stand against it. I’m going to have to take a break before I start What Is The What or I might not make it through.

Admittedly, the first couple chapters struck a few of my pet peeves of non-fiction: ascribing specifics where they likely wouldn’t be remembered, or painting its subjects a bit too rosily. But then again, I know more than my share of folks like the Zeitouns, and on paper they would have to seem too good to be true.

Once Katrina hits the ground, though, I couldn’t put it down. Small quibbles aside: this is a story that needs to be read.