Zeitoun

By: Dave Eggers

Narrated by: Firdous Bamji

Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

In his new nonfiction book Zeitoun, New York Times best-selling author Dave Eggers tells a Hurricane Katrina story unlike any written before.

When HurricaneKatrina struck New Orleans, Abdulrahman Zeitoun - a prosperous Syrian-American and father of four - chose to stay through the storm to protect his house and contracting business. In the eerie days after the storm, he traveled the flooded streets in a secondhand canoe, passing on supplies and rescuing those he could. A week later, on September 6, 2005, Zeitoun abruptly disappeared.

Eggers's riveting work, three years in the making, follows Zeitoun back to his childhood in Syria and around the world during his years as a sailor. The book also traces the story of Zeitoun's wife Kathy - a boisterous Southerner who converted to Islam - and their wonderful, funny, devoted family. When Zeitoun vanishes, Kathy is left to make sense of the surreal atmosphere (in New Orleans and the United States generally) in which what happened to Abdulrahman Zeitoun was possible.

©2009 Dave Eggers (P)2009 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

"Imagine Charles Dickens, his sentimentality in check but his journalistic eyes wide open, roaming New Orleans after it was buried by Hurricane Katrina ... Eggers's tone is pitch-perfect - suspense blended with just enough information to stoke reader outrage and what is likely to be a typical response: How could this happen in America?" (Timothy Egan, The New York Times)

Sad, Shocking, and Inspiring

An incredible story about survival, spirituality, love, and injustice. This work truly exposes some of the best and worst tendencies of America and Americans.

better than I expected

I love New Orleans. I've visited many times. After Katrina, the school I worked at ran numerous find raisers and staff joined rebuilding efforts. This book told aspects of that event from an intensely personal perspective. I enjoyed the writing and the portrayal of Muslims. I was shocked and sad about other parts of the story, but overall, it was very well done and narrated just right.

Katrina’s cost for one man and his family

Tremendously painful in so many ways, from fury at Zeitoun’s stubbornness and admiration for his deep caring to the injustices he suffered at the hands of the government of the city he loves.

Delicate and powerful

I was saddened to learn that after the book ends, the main character was arrested for domestic violence against his wife. After hearing the story it was even more powerful to know this.
Here so carefully and skillfully, documents the transformation of a man, of a family, of a city. Everyone lost, some more than others. Zeitoun and his wife lost their home, the feeling of safety, of fairness, the blinders that allow us to innocently see the best. The story details their trauma and cPTSD. I was discouraged when I read favorable reviews of him being jailed after assaulting his wife. How can you read this and not understand the severity of his trauma? Of his wife's and their children? Seeing him jailed is not something to celebrate, seeing them find peace despite the reality of islamophobia in this country, that would be celebratory. Seeing the country awaken and feel regret for racist and islamophobic actions, that would be cause for celebration.
To blind a man, and then laugh as they stumble.

Food for thought

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Well, after I read it, I definitely would have. But I have since read that the main character was arrested for beating his wife, and I wonder if the whole story was a sham.

What did you like best about this story?

Regardless of whether the main character was accurately portrayed, the story made me realize how vital our legal intrastructure is, and how we have to have emergency preparedness to make sure people's rights are respected during disasters.

Excellent and unexpected

Excellent historic with very little fiction. Full of surprises and a unique view of a well publicised disaster.

Good

It was a good, easy read. It had a few unnecessary stories, but good nevertheless.

Great Story, Annoying Narrator

What did you like best about Zeitoun? What did you like least?

I loved the story. I had only been in the US a year when Katrina hit and still in high school. The extent of the damage as well as the breakdown of the society was incomprehensible at the time. This book gave me more insight in the time it took to listen to the book than all of the news reports combined. I really enjoyed the book.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

The narrator could have pronounced the "s" in all of the plurals. I'm not one to be nit picky about narration but it was seriously annoying. Also, the Arabic terms could have been pronounced a lot better. I understand that he might have been trying to Americanize the words to make sure all readers understood what he was saying, but it took away from the book.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Yes, and from my understanding, there will be a movie.

Not for the faint of heart

This book is amazing. I would caution anyone who wants to embark upon this man’s journey that some parts are difficult to listen to. He pulls no punches and exposes us to things never seen in the media. I think it has enlightened me, and also ripped me apart in my soul. Great courage to share his story.

Something bold, ebullient, yet quiet

There is something bold and yet quiet about 'Zeitoun' the book and Zeitoun the man. There is also something bold about Dave Eggers. I don't always like the flashier parts of Eggers. The sparkle and the shake of 'A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius' or the fur-covered binding of 'The Wild Things' didn't really capture me like they did some. But after reading 'A Hologram for the King' I've started recognizing it for what it is -- David Eggers is simply enthusiastic, ebullient about ideas and people. He can't help himself. He has an idea and he wants it big or bigger. He wants Zeitoun's story written across the sky. For most of us the wish or desire is enough. It fills us up. We are done there and can go to bed and rest comfortably. The brilliance of the idea quickly gets burned out as the sun of the rest of our lives burns our dreams away. The brilliance (or genius) of David Eggers is his ability to follow up on these quirky little ideas. He has tremendous follow-through. He doesn't forget, he doesn't dispose, he uses and crafts and makes and publishes.

Not every book written by Eggers will be genius, but his ENERGY is always genius. His momentum is always brilliant. And, 'Zeitoun' the book was brilliant. It showed the beauty of people and the inhumanity of bureaucracies. It is the story of America. How America can contain both the best and the worst of humanity, often lit by the same light and drowned/baptized by the same waters.