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)

terrific listen

great insight into the tragedy of hurricane Katrina. Not only the physical devastation, but the blotch on our humanity as well.

A Must Read book.

What a great book, to this actually happened is beyond me. It's a must read!!!

family’s resilience despite ethnic profiling

An unbelievable tale of man’s inhumanity to man framed in the eerie world of post Hurricane Katrina.

One business man’s human rights and dignities are taken from him and he is “arrested” detained while his wife, family and children seek to find him. They learn he had his human rights violated because of ethic profiling.

Zeitoun, the protagonist, a Muslim with a successful paint and contracting business,his American born wife Kathy and their four kids evacuate due to Katrina, yet Zeitoun stays behind to watch the properties they own and help the neighbors in the flood. He becomes the unwitting target of ethnic profiling and is detained prisoner in a maximum security jail, thought of as being Al Qaida.

The story is shocking, and is as important to read now as it was when first published.

happen to my wife and I

we were arrested money and shoes stolen forced to plea guilty booked under no name to trace locked up in central lock up all by the crooked racist N.O. thief Association hate that city!! ####!!!

Eggers is a great storyteller

Dave Eggers knows how to tell a story. The story is compelling and thought provoking. This story confirms that old adage that the truth is stranger than fiction. The narration is spot on.

Split Mind...

If you walk into this book expecting a novel, expect to be disappointed. A previous reviewer referred to a lack of 'heroism' -- they might be wrong, in that Zeutoun himself showed a kind of foolhardy heroism -- but he misses the point. If, on the other hand, you would find a deep slice into a period of American life and political history, in what is basically a great piece of JOURNALISM, then you'll be very happy. It does walk the line with being a nonfiction novel sometimes (esp. with Zeitoun's dreams and the flashbacks to his eldest brother) but it lacks the kind of satisfying climax/denoument that novel readers might expect. I, for one, loved this book. It was a compelling look at real people living through two extraordinary tragedies. I with the Zeitouns well, wherever they are, they sound like great people.

A Glimpse Into Another World

I listened to this book quite a while ago, and loved it. I was surprised to see reviews complaining that there were too many unnecessary details. I felt this was a bit like saying there were too many notes in a symphony.

I liked the book because it was essentially the story about people I don't know and don't see in America. It was compelling because it is the story of a woman to converted to Islam on her on accord and then later met and married an Islamic man. These are people I would never meet except through a book like this. I didn't find the story of their lives at all boring. Perhaps it is because I am a woman. Women and families are as interesting to me as big events and crisis.

Then there is the horror of Katrina and Zeitoun's disappearance. I did not know things like this happened during Katrina. I did not know that American citizens could be subjected to this treatment. What was inspiring to me was Zeitoun's wife. Her love, her determination, her refusal to be passive inspired me.

This is a good book. It's on sale right now. Buy it!

Amazing, but heartbreaking, story

This is an amazing story - a glimpse into just one family's experience in the aftermath of Katrina. It gave me a new appreciation for what the city of New Orleans and its citizens endured.

Starts slow, becomes a page turner

What did you love best about Zeitoun?

The story starts out as a simple recounting of the the life of Zeitoun and his family/ I thought it was like reading a history book, not that interesting. But then it grabs you and doesn't let go.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Zeitoun?

This book gives a damning account of how civil rights can be COMPLETELY ignored in this country when ignorant, thoughtless people who don't care about their fellow human beings and can make their life total hell and don't care at all. It's incomprensible.

Have you listened to any of Firdous Bamji’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

The performance was good

This books gives some amazing insights!

What did you love best about Zeitoun?

The main protagonist is an unlikely hero. He is one of those 'salt of the earth' people who you'd like to have on your team - practical, empathetic, kind and generous. Documented are the hours before Katrina, the storm and the aftermath all told through the eyes of a survivor. The horrors, suspicion, heartbreak, hope and experiences of those who lived through Katrina are believable and understandable.Zeitoun is subjected to all manner of emotional turmoil and cannot understand the events unfolding around himThis is a good listen.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No - it's too long and understandably, I needed to listen to this story in short bursts as it could be overwhelming (emotionally) to listen to it in one sitting.