Call number
976 E
Collection
Publication
McSweeney's (2009), 342 pages
Description
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, longtime New Orleans residents Abdulrahman and Kathy Zeitoun are cast into an unthinkable struggle with forces beyond wind and water. In the days after the storm, Abdulrahman traveled the flooded streets in a secondhand canoe, passing on supplies and helping those he could. A week later, on September 6, 2005, Zeitoun abruptly disappeared-- arrested and accused of being an agent of al Qaeda.
Media reviews
'Zeitoun was sterk', schrijft Dave Eggers in zijn verwoestend mooie boek Zeitoun. 'Hij had nog nooit zo'n gevoel van urgentie en vastberadenheid gehad. (...) Er was een reden, wist hij nu, waarom hij was achtergebleven in de stad. Hij had zich gedwongen gevoeld om te blijven, door een kracht die
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hij niet kende. Hij was nodig.'De eerste helft van dit zonder opsmuk geschreven non-fictie boek heeft iets van een sprookje.
De details die de auteur heeft opgediept, maken dit boek tot een meesterwerk. In de postmoderne romancier Eggers bleek een verslaggever van het zuiverste water schuil te gaan, een observator met een gouden pen. Show Less
In “Zeitoun,” what Dave Eggers has found in the Katrina mud is the full-fleshed story of a single family, and in telling that story he hits larger targets with more punch than those who have already attacked the thematic and historic giants of this disaster. It’s the stuff of great narrative
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nonfiction. Show Less
"Zeitoun" is a warm, exciting and entirely fresh way of experiencing Hurricane Katrina.
Eggers' sympathy for Zeitoun is as plain and real as his style in telling the man's story. He doesn't try to dazzle with heartbreaking pirouettes of staggering prose; he simply lets the surreal and tragic facts speak for themselves.
User reviews
LibraryThing member richardderus
Okay. I herewith open my piehole for the crow to be inserted. I have said nasty, judgmental things about Eggers's writings, and I meant each and every one of them. I still do.
But this book is excellent, and this book is Eggers's, so it is obvious that the old adage about a stopped clock being right
It's a direct, elegantly simple telling of the nightmare side of the American Dream. It's powerfully focused, unlike every other one of Eggers's overpraised books that I've read, and it's superbly structured, with no room for improvement in pacing and character development that I can find.
I don't believe I'm typing these things, someone reassure me that this is *me*! Every criticism I've leveled at this guy's previous writing is out the window! Will they turn off the gravity next?
But truth is truth, and honesty compels me to say: I haven't enjoyed a book this much in ages. Well, enjoyed is a strange term to use for the true and factual, and awful, story of a decent, honorable man made the butt of scoiety's opprobrium for no reason other than his religion and origins. But the book is deeply enjoyable, because at every turn, Zeitoun's decency and honor and integrity shine through. That alone makes the book worth buying and reading. Add to that the fact that, rare in this world failed of kindness, Zeitoun summons the best and the most positive people to him in his desperate hours.
There are just under 700 copies of this book on LT at this moment. I am disappointed that Twilight and The Life of Pi, vastly inferior books to this one, and to name but two of the many, many books this applies to, have more then 10,000 copies on the site.
Please...do your part to change this, and go buy a copy. Then read it. It will, contrary to any expectation you might have, leave you uplifted and happier for having read a book about Hurricane Katrina and an Arab immigrant. Very strongly recommended.
And, thanks to tymfos for making me read this...even sending me a copy...one it will be extremely hard to release back into the bookosphere. That I will *have* to buy a replacement is a small economic price to pay.
But this book is excellent, and this book is Eggers's, so it is obvious that the old adage about a stopped clock being right
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twice a day applies to writers and writing as well.It's a direct, elegantly simple telling of the nightmare side of the American Dream. It's powerfully focused, unlike every other one of Eggers's overpraised books that I've read, and it's superbly structured, with no room for improvement in pacing and character development that I can find.
I don't believe I'm typing these things, someone reassure me that this is *me*! Every criticism I've leveled at this guy's previous writing is out the window! Will they turn off the gravity next?
But truth is truth, and honesty compels me to say: I haven't enjoyed a book this much in ages. Well, enjoyed is a strange term to use for the true and factual, and awful, story of a decent, honorable man made the butt of scoiety's opprobrium for no reason other than his religion and origins. But the book is deeply enjoyable, because at every turn, Zeitoun's decency and honor and integrity shine through. That alone makes the book worth buying and reading. Add to that the fact that, rare in this world failed of kindness, Zeitoun summons the best and the most positive people to him in his desperate hours.
There are just under 700 copies of this book on LT at this moment. I am disappointed that Twilight and The Life of Pi, vastly inferior books to this one, and to name but two of the many, many books this applies to, have more then 10,000 copies on the site.
Please...do your part to change this, and go buy a copy. Then read it. It will, contrary to any expectation you might have, leave you uplifted and happier for having read a book about Hurricane Katrina and an Arab immigrant. Very strongly recommended.
And, thanks to tymfos for making me read this...even sending me a copy...one it will be extremely hard to release back into the bookosphere. That I will *have* to buy a replacement is a small economic price to pay.
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LibraryThing member Whisper1
Zeitoun by Dave Eggers recommended by Arubabookworm (Deborah) and Allthesedarnbooks (Marcia), I've now added yet one more New Orleans, Hurricane Katrina book to the list of those I read in the last year.
This is a sad and compelling story of Adbulrahman Zeitoun who immigrated to the United States
As Hurricane Katrina approached New Orleans, Kathy Zeitoun left with their children. Adbulrah stayed in order to maintain their business and properties.
Eggers paints a very descriptive picture of a city under water and under seige as bands of thieves roam, dogs are left behind to die, water levels rise, destroying pieces of Zeitoun's American dream and the government does a woefully inadequate job of assisting those in dire need.
Zeitoun is a good guy, one who gives to the community and who is a kind, gentle and thoughtful man. Using a canoe, he navigates through the streets assisting some who stayed behind. Surprisingly, he is arrested under false pretenses, thrown in jail in a cage and, along with others treated like animals who received frequent pepper spray dosings and various mis treatments.
During post 9/11 and at a time when Homeland security and FEMA were melded, distrust of non-white residents was exceedingly high, thus the reason Zeitoun became a target.
While I'm not naive enough to believe that based on skin color, arrests of innocent people don't occur, It truly is upsetting to read the supreme injustice that existed.
This is a sad and compelling story of Adbulrahman Zeitoun who immigrated to the United States
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from the Middle East. He and his wife built a very successful painting/remodeling business and were the proud owners of a number of rental properties. Believing they were a part of the American dream, they worked hard, accomplished much, and were kind and good hearted enough to share their resources.As Hurricane Katrina approached New Orleans, Kathy Zeitoun left with their children. Adbulrah stayed in order to maintain their business and properties.
Eggers paints a very descriptive picture of a city under water and under seige as bands of thieves roam, dogs are left behind to die, water levels rise, destroying pieces of Zeitoun's American dream and the government does a woefully inadequate job of assisting those in dire need.
Zeitoun is a good guy, one who gives to the community and who is a kind, gentle and thoughtful man. Using a canoe, he navigates through the streets assisting some who stayed behind. Surprisingly, he is arrested under false pretenses, thrown in jail in a cage and, along with others treated like animals who received frequent pepper spray dosings and various mis treatments.
During post 9/11 and at a time when Homeland security and FEMA were melded, distrust of non-white residents was exceedingly high, thus the reason Zeitoun became a target.
While I'm not naive enough to believe that based on skin color, arrests of innocent people don't occur, It truly is upsetting to read the supreme injustice that existed.
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LibraryThing member VisibleGhost
Some thoughts on Zeitoun.
Eggers tells the tale of Abdulrahman Zeitoun and his experiences before and after Katrina. He mainly keeps himself out of the story but the brushstrokes of where he wants the reader to end up are visible at times. Deftly done, and it doesn't expand into propaganda. The
Zeituon is a hardworking Syrian-American who settled in New Orleans, married a Louisiana native and they are raising a family together. Like most couples, they have their problems but they were making it work. Abdulrahman has his own construction contracting company and is something of a workaholic. They also own several rentals. Getting him to take family vacations was a battle every time.
This obsessiveness, while understandable, led to his experiences during and after Katrina. He passed through the storm and the levee breaches unscathed. During this time his wife and his brother pleaded with him several times to leave. Keep the family together and work through the hardships as a unit rather than be split up during this period. Zeitoun was adamant in his refusal to evacuate even though there were several opportunities to get out. He had a old used canoe that he used to rescue some stranded neighbors and fed some trapped dogs. It was God's will that he was where he was he would say. Then he was arrested. All of a sudden the God's will reasoning went away and the thoughts of being reunited with family came to the fore. If one believes in a deity that is in control of every part of one's life then it seems the bad should be a part of that belief along with the good. The loss of freedom turned his thoughts to family that probably should have been there before the loss of freedom.
Zeitoun is not a uncaring or cruel man. He has his flaws like anyone else does. After he was released he restarted his business and bought some more rentals. He is changed but his wife is changed even more and not for the better. I found myself wondering if and when the next evacuation order comes, will Abdulrahman leave or stay?
Eggers tells the tale of Abdulrahman Zeitoun and his experiences before and after Katrina. He mainly keeps himself out of the story but the brushstrokes of where he wants the reader to end up are visible at times. Deftly done, and it doesn't expand into propaganda. The
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impact of the story is focused on the martial law period following Katrina. Thousands of people ended up with heavy footed, jack-booted clad feet on their throats. A 73 year-old woman ends up being held for more than a week for retrieving sausages from the trunk of her own car. Homeland Security and the rules it operates under practically guarantee civil rights abuse. Claims of national security interests trump civil rights issues in that department's eyes. The New Orleans police department didn't exactly have an outstanding reputation before Katrina and the mixture of that weak department, the military, and Homeland Security trying to restore order ended up being a messy affair. Parts of the aftermath are still playing out in political circles and the court system. Eggers illuminates some of these issues.Zeituon is a hardworking Syrian-American who settled in New Orleans, married a Louisiana native and they are raising a family together. Like most couples, they have their problems but they were making it work. Abdulrahman has his own construction contracting company and is something of a workaholic. They also own several rentals. Getting him to take family vacations was a battle every time.
This obsessiveness, while understandable, led to his experiences during and after Katrina. He passed through the storm and the levee breaches unscathed. During this time his wife and his brother pleaded with him several times to leave. Keep the family together and work through the hardships as a unit rather than be split up during this period. Zeitoun was adamant in his refusal to evacuate even though there were several opportunities to get out. He had a old used canoe that he used to rescue some stranded neighbors and fed some trapped dogs. It was God's will that he was where he was he would say. Then he was arrested. All of a sudden the God's will reasoning went away and the thoughts of being reunited with family came to the fore. If one believes in a deity that is in control of every part of one's life then it seems the bad should be a part of that belief along with the good. The loss of freedom turned his thoughts to family that probably should have been there before the loss of freedom.
Zeitoun is not a uncaring or cruel man. He has his flaws like anyone else does. After he was released he restarted his business and bought some more rentals. He is changed but his wife is changed even more and not for the better. I found myself wondering if and when the next evacuation order comes, will Abdulrahman leave or stay?
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LibraryThing member kidzdoc
This is a true story of a remarkable man, Abdulrahman Zeitoun, who emigrated to the United States from Syria, and appears to have achieved the American dream of prosperity through hard work and determination. He works for a number of contractors, and eventually becomes a successful owner of a house
In 2005, Hurricane Katrina begins its slow, meandering course westward over the Atlantic Ocean and Florida, and appears to be no different than the dozen or so major storms that make landfall in the southern US. As the storm gains strength, it also appears to be headed directly for New Orleans, a city whose average elevation is one to two feet below sea level.
For decades it was well known that a major hurricane could cause failure of the city's levees, which keep the city from filling with water from Lake Pontchartrain to the north and the Mississippi River to the south, but local and government officials largely ignored this doomsday scenario, as it had not occurred since the city was founded in the early 18th century.
Despite his wife's pleas to evacuate, as the weather forecasters predict that Katrina will take direct aim at the city at a maximum Category 5 intensity, Zeitoun desires to remain in the city, in order to protect his home and properties. As his wife and daughters evacuate to nearby Baton Rouge, Zeitoun rides out the storm, which initially seems to be a wise decision, as he is able to save most of the valuables in his house. However, the levees do fail two days later, and he is forced to live on and outside the second floor of their home. With nothing else to do, he uses his used canoe to check on his properties, and in the process rescues several elderly neighbors who are trapped in their homes. A couple of friends who are flooded out of their homes move in with him, and all appears to be going well for him, despite the reports of looting and lawlessness throughout the embattled city. He decides to stay in the city to help other residents, who have been neglected by the National Guard and federal officials, as he believes that God has called upon him to do this. Soon, though, the relative tranquility is shattered by an unforeseeable event that threatens to erase everything he has worked so hard to achieve.
Zeitoun is a captivating page turner that, in the story of one man and his family, describes the spectacular failure of local, state and federal officials to protect victims of Hurricane Katrina, and the government's brutal and immoral treatment of innocent Americans of Middle Eastern descent after 9/11. Even though it is nearly 350 pages in length, it is a quick read, and I could not put it down after I resumed reading it this afternoon. Highly recommended.
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painting company and numerous housing properties in New Orleans. He is happily married to an attractive American woman who has converted to Islam, and they have three wonderful daughters.In 2005, Hurricane Katrina begins its slow, meandering course westward over the Atlantic Ocean and Florida, and appears to be no different than the dozen or so major storms that make landfall in the southern US. As the storm gains strength, it also appears to be headed directly for New Orleans, a city whose average elevation is one to two feet below sea level.
For decades it was well known that a major hurricane could cause failure of the city's levees, which keep the city from filling with water from Lake Pontchartrain to the north and the Mississippi River to the south, but local and government officials largely ignored this doomsday scenario, as it had not occurred since the city was founded in the early 18th century.
Despite his wife's pleas to evacuate, as the weather forecasters predict that Katrina will take direct aim at the city at a maximum Category 5 intensity, Zeitoun desires to remain in the city, in order to protect his home and properties. As his wife and daughters evacuate to nearby Baton Rouge, Zeitoun rides out the storm, which initially seems to be a wise decision, as he is able to save most of the valuables in his house. However, the levees do fail two days later, and he is forced to live on and outside the second floor of their home. With nothing else to do, he uses his used canoe to check on his properties, and in the process rescues several elderly neighbors who are trapped in their homes. A couple of friends who are flooded out of their homes move in with him, and all appears to be going well for him, despite the reports of looting and lawlessness throughout the embattled city. He decides to stay in the city to help other residents, who have been neglected by the National Guard and federal officials, as he believes that God has called upon him to do this. Soon, though, the relative tranquility is shattered by an unforeseeable event that threatens to erase everything he has worked so hard to achieve.
Zeitoun is a captivating page turner that, in the story of one man and his family, describes the spectacular failure of local, state and federal officials to protect victims of Hurricane Katrina, and the government's brutal and immoral treatment of innocent Americans of Middle Eastern descent after 9/11. Even though it is nearly 350 pages in length, it is a quick read, and I could not put it down after I resumed reading it this afternoon. Highly recommended.
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LibraryThing member brenzi
Descriptive words prompted by this book: unsettling, despair, terrifying, discouraging, frightening.
Time to read this book: measured in hours rather than days
Final opinion: priceless
Hang onto your hats if you choose to read Zeitoun by Dave Eggers because you are in for quite a ride. I thought I
Kathy and Abdulrahman Zeitoun own a highly successful painting and contracting business in New Orleans. They also own several rental properties in the city and have lived through more than one hurricane. The book tells their story and it's only one story out of thousands which is what makes it so frightening. I don't want to give away too much of the story, but I'll say that Kathy and her four children leave New Orleans at the start of the hurricane and her husband stays behind to protect all of his business interests and their home, just as he has done in the past when hurricanes were predicted. When the storm turns out to be the hundred year storm that no one really expected, Zeitoun uses his canoe to help in the rescue of stranded citizens and to check on his various properties. As the story unfolds, he discovers that the country he loves can not be counted on to provide even basic human rights.
Eggers intersperses the story of before and after Katrina with the story of Kathy and Zeitoun's past lives. The effect is that you know these two so well that you can't understand how they could be treated in the way they are. This is non-fiction that reads like fiction and, because of what transpires, I kept reminding myself that this was a true story. Fast, fast read because you truly cannot put it down. Very highly recommended.
Time to read this book: measured in hours rather than days
Final opinion: priceless
Hang onto your hats if you choose to read Zeitoun by Dave Eggers because you are in for quite a ride. I thought I
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knew pretty much all I could about Katrina: the failure of FEMA to provide timely help for the victims, and the failure of the city of New Oeleans and the state of Louisiana to provide even basic necessities for those affected, but that which is exposed by Eggers in this book, which is a biography that details actual events that happened, stunned me. Maybe I'm among the naive few, I'm not sure.Kathy and Abdulrahman Zeitoun own a highly successful painting and contracting business in New Orleans. They also own several rental properties in the city and have lived through more than one hurricane. The book tells their story and it's only one story out of thousands which is what makes it so frightening. I don't want to give away too much of the story, but I'll say that Kathy and her four children leave New Orleans at the start of the hurricane and her husband stays behind to protect all of his business interests and their home, just as he has done in the past when hurricanes were predicted. When the storm turns out to be the hundred year storm that no one really expected, Zeitoun uses his canoe to help in the rescue of stranded citizens and to check on his various properties. As the story unfolds, he discovers that the country he loves can not be counted on to provide even basic human rights.
Eggers intersperses the story of before and after Katrina with the story of Kathy and Zeitoun's past lives. The effect is that you know these two so well that you can't understand how they could be treated in the way they are. This is non-fiction that reads like fiction and, because of what transpires, I kept reminding myself that this was a true story. Fast, fast read because you truly cannot put it down. Very highly recommended.
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LibraryThing member Othemts
This work of literary non-fiction captures the harrowing story of Abdulrahman Zeitoun immediately before, during, and after Hurricane Katrina. Zeitoun, by all accounts a decent and honest man, is a hardworking Syrian immigrant who runs a contracting business. When the storm comes, he has his family
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evacuate, while he stays to keep an eye on some properties he manages. The scenes immediately after the storm are eerily beautiful with Zeitoun paddling a canoe through the streets of New Orleans joining up with other survivors to rescue people and care for dogs left behind. Then mysteriously Zeitoun and his companions are arrested. He is held under shockingly cruel conditions, abused, and not allowed to contact family or a lawyer for several weeks. It's a chilling tale of injustice in America and indictment of the nation's values in the post-September 11th paradigm. Most telling is how government agencies were unable to coordinate rescuing survivors, yet within days after the storm had constructed a large, high-security prison in a bus station parking lot. Eggers writing is straightforward and fleshed out with flashbacks to Zeitoun's childhood in Syria and his wife Kathy's conversion to Islam. The writing style is a delight to read but the story makes me angry and depressed. Show Less
LibraryThing member gbill
Ooooooh it must have been Sooooo tempting for Eggers to have lambasted FEMA and the Bush administration for their incredibly inept handling of Hurricane Katrina and for what happened to Abdulrahman and Kathy Zeitoun in the telling of this story. After describing some of the absolutely shocking
Instead Eggers does a very intelligent thing: he is brilliantly restrained, and lets the facts themselves do all the talking. There is not a shred of additional commentary or spin. As in "What is the What", the writing is a simple recollection of what happened. The reader is well capable of registering the outrage him or herself, and of recognizing the unbelievable hypocrisy and inhumanity in those who should have been helping the victims.
I confess I do not care much for the subject matter and only read the book because anything from Eggers is "must read" at this point for me, but the end result was quite good, and I would recommend the book. It's not the end-all or be-all on Katrina or its aftermath, but it doesn't pretend to be either. And in sticking to the scope of the story, Zeitoun and his family, it's far more powerful as a result.
My only request for Eggers is, amidst these historical non-fiction stories that are of great social importance, how about throwing us a bone and occasionally giving us more of the earlier type of writing. I kinda miss it. :-)
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events which happened to this poor guy, he could have very easily gotten up on a soapbox and typed long passages and devolved this into political commentary.Instead Eggers does a very intelligent thing: he is brilliantly restrained, and lets the facts themselves do all the talking. There is not a shred of additional commentary or spin. As in "What is the What", the writing is a simple recollection of what happened. The reader is well capable of registering the outrage him or herself, and of recognizing the unbelievable hypocrisy and inhumanity in those who should have been helping the victims.
I confess I do not care much for the subject matter and only read the book because anything from Eggers is "must read" at this point for me, but the end result was quite good, and I would recommend the book. It's not the end-all or be-all on Katrina or its aftermath, but it doesn't pretend to be either. And in sticking to the scope of the story, Zeitoun and his family, it's far more powerful as a result.
My only request for Eggers is, amidst these historical non-fiction stories that are of great social importance, how about throwing us a bone and occasionally giving us more of the earlier type of writing. I kinda miss it. :-)
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LibraryThing member CBJames
Zeitoun is the true story of a gross injustice perpetrated against a fundamentally decent man, some would say a heroic man. 100% of the profits from sales of the book go to charities dedicated to preventing injustices like those suffered by the books protagonists.
I wish I could say I liked
Abdulrahman and Kathy Zeitoun were successful New Orleans business people prior to the advent of Hurricane Katrina. Good marriage, good family, good neighbors, good citizens both. Abdulrahman, called Zeitoun (Zay-toon) by those who know him, stays behind to keep watch over the family's home and their numerous rental properties when his wife Kathy insisted on leaving with the children ahead of the hurricane. Afterwards, Zeitoun paddles his canoe through the flooded city, helping those trapped inside their homes and taking care of the dogs that had been left behind when their owners fled the storm. One day, he is arrested and imprisoned on suspicion of being a terrorist and member of Al-Queda. His wife and family spend weeks trying to find out what happened to him and then trying to win his freedom.
It's an incredible story. But I have two problems with it. First, Mr. Egger's writing style is so sparse, so simple that I began to feel like I was listening to him read his children a bedtime story. There are so many simple declarative sentences in Zeitoun that I began to long for a semi-colon just for the visual variety. I believe I could use his text as the basis of a sentence combining activity with my own students. Here's a random sample:
Zeitoun dropped his paddle and jumped into the water. He held his breath and swam to the porch. The steps came quicker than he thought. He jammed his knee against the masonry and let out a gasp. When he stood, the water was up to his neck.
That's an average of just over nine words per sentence. The entire book is like that. The book is 335 pages long. The sentences are very short. This became annoying and remained annoying. According to my calculations using the SMOG Readability test, Zeitoun is written at a fourth grade reading level.
My second issue with Zeitoun goes to the reliability of memoir. Zeitoun is not a memoir, but Mr. Egger's narrative relies almost exclusively on the memory of Kathy and Abdulraham Zeitoun. I've no reason to suspect their account, in fact I believe they are telling the truth from start to finish, but it would have benefited the reader if Mr. Eggers had built collaborating evidence into the book, instead of adding it on at the end in a few pages. Footnotes are your friend.
This is an important flaw because what happened to Mr. Zeitoun ought to indict the American justice system. It should be a call to action. But for a call to action to succeed it must provide readers with enough evidence to withstand debate. Readers who tell this story to a skeptical audience are left with only the word of Mr. Zeitoun. If I find parts of his story hard to believe, I need more than just his word to convince me his story is true. Those of us who bought copies of A Million Little Pieces need to remember the lesson we learned. Relying on eyewitness accounts is a mistake bordering on laziness.
It is possible to tell a true story in a compelling manner while giving the reader the needed supporting evidence. Dave Cullen's book Columbine is an excellent example. So is Rising Tide by John M. Barry an account of the Mississippi flood of 1927--a far worse disaster than Hurricane Katrina. As for Hurricane Katrina and it's aftermath, you're better off watching Spike Lee's documentary series When the Levees Broke.
I wish I could say I liked
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it.Abdulrahman and Kathy Zeitoun were successful New Orleans business people prior to the advent of Hurricane Katrina. Good marriage, good family, good neighbors, good citizens both. Abdulrahman, called Zeitoun (Zay-toon) by those who know him, stays behind to keep watch over the family's home and their numerous rental properties when his wife Kathy insisted on leaving with the children ahead of the hurricane. Afterwards, Zeitoun paddles his canoe through the flooded city, helping those trapped inside their homes and taking care of the dogs that had been left behind when their owners fled the storm. One day, he is arrested and imprisoned on suspicion of being a terrorist and member of Al-Queda. His wife and family spend weeks trying to find out what happened to him and then trying to win his freedom.
It's an incredible story. But I have two problems with it. First, Mr. Egger's writing style is so sparse, so simple that I began to feel like I was listening to him read his children a bedtime story. There are so many simple declarative sentences in Zeitoun that I began to long for a semi-colon just for the visual variety. I believe I could use his text as the basis of a sentence combining activity with my own students. Here's a random sample:
Zeitoun dropped his paddle and jumped into the water. He held his breath and swam to the porch. The steps came quicker than he thought. He jammed his knee against the masonry and let out a gasp. When he stood, the water was up to his neck.
That's an average of just over nine words per sentence. The entire book is like that. The book is 335 pages long. The sentences are very short. This became annoying and remained annoying. According to my calculations using the SMOG Readability test, Zeitoun is written at a fourth grade reading level.
My second issue with Zeitoun goes to the reliability of memoir. Zeitoun is not a memoir, but Mr. Egger's narrative relies almost exclusively on the memory of Kathy and Abdulraham Zeitoun. I've no reason to suspect their account, in fact I believe they are telling the truth from start to finish, but it would have benefited the reader if Mr. Eggers had built collaborating evidence into the book, instead of adding it on at the end in a few pages. Footnotes are your friend.
This is an important flaw because what happened to Mr. Zeitoun ought to indict the American justice system. It should be a call to action. But for a call to action to succeed it must provide readers with enough evidence to withstand debate. Readers who tell this story to a skeptical audience are left with only the word of Mr. Zeitoun. If I find parts of his story hard to believe, I need more than just his word to convince me his story is true. Those of us who bought copies of A Million Little Pieces need to remember the lesson we learned. Relying on eyewitness accounts is a mistake bordering on laziness.
It is possible to tell a true story in a compelling manner while giving the reader the needed supporting evidence. Dave Cullen's book Columbine is an excellent example. So is Rising Tide by John M. Barry an account of the Mississippi flood of 1927--a far worse disaster than Hurricane Katrina. As for Hurricane Katrina and it's aftermath, you're better off watching Spike Lee's documentary series When the Levees Broke.
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LibraryThing member msf59
A man in a second-hand canoe, gliding through the streets of New Orleans. The levees have collapsed and the Crescent City is drowning. The man is Abdulrahman Zeitoun. A Syrian Muslim. He owns his own prosperous business, a painting and contracting outfit and he is happily married, with three
“ Zeitoun woke with the sun and crawled out of his tent. The day was bright, and as far as he could see in any direction the city was underwater. Though every resident of New Orleans imagines great floods, knows that such a thing is possible in a city surrounded by water and ill-conceived levees, the sight, in the light of day, was beyond anything he imagined. He could only think of Judgment Day, of Noah and forty days of rain. And yet it was so quiet, so still. Nothing moved.”
Dave Eggers has told an amazing story of one family’s survival, against both the brutal force of nature and a heartless bureaucratic system. Unforgettable and highly recommended!
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children. Katrina abruptly and cruelly changes everything. Here is a passage:“ Zeitoun woke with the sun and crawled out of his tent. The day was bright, and as far as he could see in any direction the city was underwater. Though every resident of New Orleans imagines great floods, knows that such a thing is possible in a city surrounded by water and ill-conceived levees, the sight, in the light of day, was beyond anything he imagined. He could only think of Judgment Day, of Noah and forty days of rain. And yet it was so quiet, so still. Nothing moved.”
Dave Eggers has told an amazing story of one family’s survival, against both the brutal force of nature and a heartless bureaucratic system. Unforgettable and highly recommended!
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LibraryThing member janemarieprice
[Zeitoun] tells the story of a Muslim-American family in New Orleans. The mother and children leave for the store, while the husband stays behind. He and several other men are arrested and spend several months in various impromptu jail situations before being released.
First, the story is very fast
What [Zeitoun] manages to avoid is the pitfall of most post-Katrina books about New Orleans which is the forced insertion of every New Orleans personality, location, author’s favorite bar, food, and stereotype. Some of the characters and situations are recognizable to me because they read as real. This seems to be the case with the religious aspects as well, from my limited experience with Muslim-Americans.
The story is hard and tragic and not entirely hopeful. It is the way life is – sometimes good, sometimes bad – and you do what you have to do to get by. Life in south Louisiana has been this way for a long time. Most people can tell you stories of their parents, grandparents, great-grandparents struggles. The stories are never disheartening and never heart-warming, but they are solid in a way that everyday life is. Perhaps there is a kind of hope in that.
First, the story is very fast
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moving. The writing is crisp and informative without being dry. This was my first Eggers and I will definitely read more of his work. What [Zeitoun] manages to avoid is the pitfall of most post-Katrina books about New Orleans which is the forced insertion of every New Orleans personality, location, author’s favorite bar, food, and stereotype. Some of the characters and situations are recognizable to me because they read as real. This seems to be the case with the religious aspects as well, from my limited experience with Muslim-Americans.
The story is hard and tragic and not entirely hopeful. It is the way life is – sometimes good, sometimes bad – and you do what you have to do to get by. Life in south Louisiana has been this way for a long time. Most people can tell you stories of their parents, grandparents, great-grandparents struggles. The stories are never disheartening and never heart-warming, but they are solid in a way that everyday life is. Perhaps there is a kind of hope in that.
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LibraryThing member kvesey
In this book, presented in the context of a family biography, Syrian-born Abdulrahman Zeitoun chooses to remain in New Orleans during Katrina to watch over the family property while his wife and children flee the storm. In the quiet desolation after the hurricane he paddles around the flooded
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streets in a canoe, helping out those in need, feeding abandoned dogs, and contemplating the future of the ravaged city. In an unexpected turn of events he is picked up by law enforcement, ostensibly for looting, and is thrown into a makeshift Gitmo-like chain link prison behind the Amtrak station before being transferred, without being allowed a phone call or a hearing (or even having his rights read to him), to a maximum security prison outside of Baton Rouge. Time passes before his family learns of his fate, and his situation is seemingly made more complicated because he is an Arab in a post-9/11 world. A fascinating story about a man wanting to do right, but caught up in the confusion and government inefficiency that enveloped New Orleans in the days and weeks after Hurricane Katrina. Show Less
LibraryThing member library_chan
Abdulrahman Zeitoun is a Syrian American living in New Orleans with his wife, Kathy, and his four children. With hard work and determination, he built a successful and well-known business as a painter and a contractor. Always trying to do what is best, he stays behind to protect his home, business,
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and rental properties while his wife and children flee New Orleans due to Hurricane Katrina. As the city empties of people and fills up with water, Zeitoun uses an old canoe to explore his deserted neighborhood and help anyone in need. Soon, he is arrested for "looting," and imprisoned first in a Guantanamo Bay-like structure behind a bus and train station (nicknamed Camp Greyhound) and then a maximum security prison outside Baton Rouge for weeks without a phone call or trial. Eggers presents this incredibly powerful and harrowing story in the context of Zeitoun and Kathy's lives. Highly recommended. Show Less
LibraryThing member shawjonathan
Reading this in the wake of Ronald Wright’s What Is America?, I can’t help but see it as a case study in the dimension of the US that is missing from the land-of-freedom myth. It’s a post-Katrina story: Abdulrahman Zeitoun is a painter, contractor and landlord who had been living and working
Dave Eggers displays extraordinary authorial restraint: his narrative is based primarily on the stories as told by Zeitoun and his wife Kathy, and everything is told here from their points of view. There are writerly flourishes in some of the descriptive passages, and it may well be that some of the embedded commentary about Geroge W Bush and FEMA originates with Eggers, but the whole reads as an impressively humble work, the author at the service of his material, at the service of his subjects. All his royalites go to the Zeitoun Foundation, which exists to fund organisations that help people caught up in similar difficulties to the Zeitouns.
The day I finished it, I saw Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds in New York City. With the behaviour of the prison guards in Camp Greyhound fresh in my mind, not to mention the callous treatment of the Zeitouns when they finally were to have their day in court, it was hard to see the Brad Pitt character and his troop as anything oither than sadistic briutes draped in the US flag, and endorsed by Tarantino and his intended audience.
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in New Orleans for 15 years when Katrina struck. His wife and children left before the storm, but he stayed behind to look after their properties, and then stayed on, paddling around in his canoe, helping people to safety, feeding dogs that otherwise would have starved, generally serving God’s purpose (he was and is a devout Muslim). Things go terribly wrong when he encounters the military, and the story takes on the quality of a nightmare.Dave Eggers displays extraordinary authorial restraint: his narrative is based primarily on the stories as told by Zeitoun and his wife Kathy, and everything is told here from their points of view. There are writerly flourishes in some of the descriptive passages, and it may well be that some of the embedded commentary about Geroge W Bush and FEMA originates with Eggers, but the whole reads as an impressively humble work, the author at the service of his material, at the service of his subjects. All his royalites go to the Zeitoun Foundation, which exists to fund organisations that help people caught up in similar difficulties to the Zeitouns.
The day I finished it, I saw Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds in New York City. With the behaviour of the prison guards in Camp Greyhound fresh in my mind, not to mention the callous treatment of the Zeitouns when they finally were to have their day in court, it was hard to see the Brad Pitt character and his troop as anything oither than sadistic briutes draped in the US flag, and endorsed by Tarantino and his intended audience.
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LibraryThing member iftyzaidi
An elegently written account of the Zeitoun family and their experiences during Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath in New Orleans. I found this to be an engaging and enlightening read. It is on the one hand an intimate biography of a fairly ordinary, if interesting man, Abdelrehman Zeitoun, an
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American of Syrian origin and his family. Its also a cautionary tale about why it is so important to hold on to the civil liberties enshired in the American constitution and not give them up in the face of national crisis. Gripping. Show Less
LibraryThing member Carmenere
I thought I knew everything there was to know about this hurricane but little did I know this book would be such an eyeopener. On the surface, this is the story about mega Hurricane Katrina, which in 2005 brought devastation to the city of New Orleans and it's residents, in particular a
Known as Zeitoun throughout the city for his dependable and conscientious painting and construction business and by his family as a loving, devoted father and stubborn workaholic he chose to stay in New Orleans and weather out the storm while his family left for higher ground.
The storm raged and cleared, the flooding soon subsided but then...... the levees burst. Urged by this family to leave the city, Zeitoun again chose to stay. He was rescuing people and animals, surely it was God's will that he remain. Yet, the affects of another storm still had the country and government on edge, 9/11.
What happens to Zeitoun in the days and weeks following Katrina reveal the fear, ineptitude and incompetence of a nation facing two catastrophes with little guidance and too much bureaucracy.
Highly recommend.
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Syrian-American named Abdulraman Zeitoun and his family. Known as Zeitoun throughout the city for his dependable and conscientious painting and construction business and by his family as a loving, devoted father and stubborn workaholic he chose to stay in New Orleans and weather out the storm while his family left for higher ground.
The storm raged and cleared, the flooding soon subsided but then...... the levees burst. Urged by this family to leave the city, Zeitoun again chose to stay. He was rescuing people and animals, surely it was God's will that he remain. Yet, the affects of another storm still had the country and government on edge, 9/11.
What happens to Zeitoun in the days and weeks following Katrina reveal the fear, ineptitude and incompetence of a nation facing two catastrophes with little guidance and too much bureaucracy.
Highly recommend.
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LibraryThing member emed0s
This book is nothing more than a hagiography, just an askew view of a man and a family in an effort to paint them as perfect cause that's the politically correct way.
As much as Mr. Eggers brilliant writing permeates every page so do this hagiography inconsistencies (i.e. lies) every so often.
The
The quaint mom&pop small business run from home, is not really run from home but from an office in a dedicated building and is not so small as it has at least a dozen workers at any time and a side real state operation. So kudos to them but it's insulting being told for the first 50 or 100 pages one cute little story only to discover the contradicting facts further along.
And in the middle of the constant hammering about the purity and sanctity of this Muslim family somehow is ok for them to become racists themselves and discriminate about other nationalities/religions based on just rumors and personal bias ... as in this lovely little passage:
"That was it, she realized. Her husband was an Arab, and there were Israeli paramilitaries on the ground in the city."
As it happens so many times the author could have sticked to reality and come out of it with a really good book, as the breakdown of the judicial system was very much as real and terrible as he describes but his pink shaded glasses and political correctness blindness make this a biased account of the facts.
As much as Mr. Eggers brilliant writing permeates every page so do this hagiography inconsistencies (i.e. lies) every so often.
The
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fact is that the hard working father that never takes a vacation, as we are told in a quite elaborate couple of pages, we later find out, in the same book, goes on vacation for as long, and as far (Spain, Syria) as anybody else.The quaint mom&pop small business run from home, is not really run from home but from an office in a dedicated building and is not so small as it has at least a dozen workers at any time and a side real state operation. So kudos to them but it's insulting being told for the first 50 or 100 pages one cute little story only to discover the contradicting facts further along.
And in the middle of the constant hammering about the purity and sanctity of this Muslim family somehow is ok for them to become racists themselves and discriminate about other nationalities/religions based on just rumors and personal bias ... as in this lovely little passage:
"That was it, she realized. Her husband was an Arab, and there were Israeli paramilitaries on the ground in the city."
As it happens so many times the author could have sticked to reality and come out of it with a really good book, as the breakdown of the judicial system was very much as real and terrible as he describes but his pink shaded glasses and political correctness blindness make this a biased account of the facts.
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LibraryThing member patrickgarson
It is easy to get caught up in the storm and stress of Eggers' book (not novel). The tale of one family's Hurrican Katrina experience and its aftermath demands your attention, enrages and propels you through its simple prose. But there's more in this book than superb agitprop; there's a richness to
The Zeitouns are in most respects a typical family. Kathy and Abdulrhaman are parents to four children, with a thriving contracting business. But as Hurricane Katrina approaches, they are about to face a storm in more ways than one.
Eggers has written their real-life account, and though he's faced criticism for his simple, almost bare prose, I thought he did a valiant job of keeping himself out of the story. Dealing with real people, and their emotions, Eggers' instinct as a writer would have been interpretive, but he keeps things to an almost neo-realist level. Plain description, and short, spare sentences outlining the Zeitoun families thoughts and feelings.
This makes the book very easy to read. Indeed, with such simple prose and a growing tension, the temptation to rip through the pages is immense - I was only partially successful in resisting it myself.
And yet, if you take that time before the book's jaw-dropping final third, you will be rewarded. Electing to stay behind once the hurricane hits, Zeitoun's experiences in the flooded city are like small, gem-like vignettes, interspersed with stories of his family and personal history. A less disciplined writer would have beaten and polished this thematic richness until it shone in the reader's eyes, but Eggers' - letting the stories speak for themselves - avoids this, and puts it on the reader to engage and construct these connections.
Certainly, they are overshadowed by, and lack the burning simplicity of, the book's core, but that tremendous contrast can bear fruit if it's not trampled over to reach the conclusion.
And what a conclusion. The horror stories of Katrina are pretty widely known, but I was still shocked at what I read - not only the Zeitoun's own story, but all the stories. This book reveals how thin the veneer of the state is, and how its cosigns - security, responsibility, accountability, liberty etc - can evaporate like gossamer with the right provocation. It's a stunning indictment not only of the American state, but the American society that produces such an institution; the indifference and culpability of so many citizens. The much-vaunted rights disappearing under a torrent of hate, fear, neglect, apathy etc. In this respect, Zeitoun is very much in the tradition of Upton Sinclair or Steinbeck; though at the same time, it's quite different to them.
There's isn't a sense of rage propelling this book. Some have said it ends on an update note, but I personally found the opposite. This if nothing else should illustrate the sophistication of Eggers' simplicity; Zeitoun forces the reader to cogitate, confront, and converse. It may tell you as much about yourself - as a reader, if not a person - as it does about Zeitoun the man. An excellent read, and very unusual for the 2000s. I expect it will become canonical, in many ways.
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this seemingly simple repast if you take the time to appreciate it. The Zeitouns are in most respects a typical family. Kathy and Abdulrhaman are parents to four children, with a thriving contracting business. But as Hurricane Katrina approaches, they are about to face a storm in more ways than one.
Eggers has written their real-life account, and though he's faced criticism for his simple, almost bare prose, I thought he did a valiant job of keeping himself out of the story. Dealing with real people, and their emotions, Eggers' instinct as a writer would have been interpretive, but he keeps things to an almost neo-realist level. Plain description, and short, spare sentences outlining the Zeitoun families thoughts and feelings.
This makes the book very easy to read. Indeed, with such simple prose and a growing tension, the temptation to rip through the pages is immense - I was only partially successful in resisting it myself.
And yet, if you take that time before the book's jaw-dropping final third, you will be rewarded. Electing to stay behind once the hurricane hits, Zeitoun's experiences in the flooded city are like small, gem-like vignettes, interspersed with stories of his family and personal history. A less disciplined writer would have beaten and polished this thematic richness until it shone in the reader's eyes, but Eggers' - letting the stories speak for themselves - avoids this, and puts it on the reader to engage and construct these connections.
Certainly, they are overshadowed by, and lack the burning simplicity of, the book's core, but that tremendous contrast can bear fruit if it's not trampled over to reach the conclusion.
And what a conclusion. The horror stories of Katrina are pretty widely known, but I was still shocked at what I read - not only the Zeitoun's own story, but all the stories. This book reveals how thin the veneer of the state is, and how its cosigns - security, responsibility, accountability, liberty etc - can evaporate like gossamer with the right provocation. It's a stunning indictment not only of the American state, but the American society that produces such an institution; the indifference and culpability of so many citizens. The much-vaunted rights disappearing under a torrent of hate, fear, neglect, apathy etc. In this respect, Zeitoun is very much in the tradition of Upton Sinclair or Steinbeck; though at the same time, it's quite different to them.
There's isn't a sense of rage propelling this book. Some have said it ends on an update note, but I personally found the opposite. This if nothing else should illustrate the sophistication of Eggers' simplicity; Zeitoun forces the reader to cogitate, confront, and converse. It may tell you as much about yourself - as a reader, if not a person - as it does about Zeitoun the man. An excellent read, and very unusual for the 2000s. I expect it will become canonical, in many ways.
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LibraryThing member saramllr
This is a very readable work of narrative non-fiction about the Muslim-American Zeitoun family and their experiences during Hurricane Katrina. It pissed me off and gave me hope in my fellow human beings all at the same time.
LibraryThing member TheWasp
Angry. The behaviour of authorities and unacceptable treatment of citizens of New Orleans following the Katrina cyclone should make the American Government hang its collective heads in shame. How many others like Abdulrahmen Zeitoun were wrongly arrested and had their lives traumatised by a system
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who claims it cares but which by its actions shows it obviously doesn't.' Show Less
LibraryThing member Rdra1962
Put down Matterhorn to read this for BookClub. Interesting juxtaposition of the jungles of Vietnam and the 3rd world country New Orleans became in the aftermath of Katrina. You've heard the horror stories of Katrina, but this is one family's personal tale, and it is not pretty!
LibraryThing member leighwh
Zeitoun was a quick read, although a hard read - hard to believe the realities of New Orleans becoming a police state post Katrina. It's an eye opener in many ways. Definitely worth the read. It's also a beautifully made book - thank you McSweeney's.
LibraryThing member maryslinde
As we continue to read about natural disasters and our government's inability to deal with them, this is a must-read. It is fascinating, somewhat depressing and understandable. The book speaks to our rush to "fix" a problem...and the tragedy that occurs because of the rush. Katrina, family,
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religion...all play a part in the book. Must read. Show Less
LibraryThing member bruchu
A Man Made Tragedy
In my opinion, "Zeitoun" is possibly the best non-fiction book I've read this year. Dave Eggers, a modern day Dickens according to the New York Times' Timothy Egan, is a journalistic wizard weaving through the background of Abdulrahman Zeitoun -- a Syrian immigrant -- his family
The first half of the book admittedly is slightly dull, but the second half is both thrilling but profoundly tragic at the same time. I don't want to give up the plot but it will have you questioning the fragility of the constitutional rights (as Americans that is) and what it means to be an American.
Unfortunately, there are probably many more Zeitoun stories yet to be told, each one as sad as the one before. As a cathartic process, I believe these stories all need to be told, if only so that somehow in the future, we can avoid repeating such terrible mistakes. When will we ever learn??
In my opinion, "Zeitoun" is possibly the best non-fiction book I've read this year. Dave Eggers, a modern day Dickens according to the New York Times' Timothy Egan, is a journalistic wizard weaving through the background of Abdulrahman Zeitoun -- a Syrian immigrant -- his family
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and life in New Orleans, and his adventures during the unfortunate events of Hurricane Katrina.The first half of the book admittedly is slightly dull, but the second half is both thrilling but profoundly tragic at the same time. I don't want to give up the plot but it will have you questioning the fragility of the constitutional rights (as Americans that is) and what it means to be an American.
Unfortunately, there are probably many more Zeitoun stories yet to be told, each one as sad as the one before. As a cathartic process, I believe these stories all need to be told, if only so that somehow in the future, we can avoid repeating such terrible mistakes. When will we ever learn??
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LibraryThing member co_coyote
I have become a huge Dave Eggers fan. He writes some of the most innovative and interesting books around. But this book is something a little different, a straight reporting job on what happened to one family in New Orleans when hurricane Katrina hit the city. It is a painstakingly detailed look at
It is a compelling and frightening story of xenophobia, incompetence, and chaos amidst one of the worst hurricane disasters in American history.
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what happened to Abdulrahman and Kathy Zietoun and their family in the weeks following the Katrina disaster.It is a compelling and frightening story of xenophobia, incompetence, and chaos amidst one of the worst hurricane disasters in American history.
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LibraryThing member Osbaldistone
Well, I'll buy any biography Eggers writes now. I read "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" and found the first two-thirds engrossing. I read "What is the What" and was stunned at Eggers' ability to be the voice of a man from another contintent, culture, and history. Now comes Zeitoun. This
Os.
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reads like a combination memoir and investigative journalism, and both aspects work beautifully. Eggers relays a fascinating story about a period of time in New Orleans that left the whole country stunned. If you want some idea of what was going on down there when the press had no clue, this book will fill you in, and does so in an uncompromizing, unblinking style. You just have to read this. Os.
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Awards
LA Times Book Prize (Finalist — 2009)
American Book Award (2010)
Dayton Literary Peace Prize (Winner — Nonfiction — 2010)
Robert F. Kennedy Book Award (2010)
Northern California Book Awards (Winner — 2010)
The New York Times Notable Books of the Year (Nonfiction — 2009)
San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year (Nonfiction — 2009)
Notable Books List (Nonfiction — 2010)
Pages
342
ISBN
1934781630 / 9781934781630