Zeitoun by Dave Eggers
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Dave Eggers has taken a day-by-day account of the life of a Syrian immigrant Zeitoun, before and after the 2005 massive Hurricane Katrina that destroyed New Orleans and turned it into one personal tragedy piggy-backed atop another. A man filled only with the need to help others worse off than himself stays in his devastated neighborhood paddling his canoe to rescue dogs and neighbors from the rising flood waters, bring food and water to those stranded and help in anyway he can to alleviate pain and suffering.
Zeitoun is an upstanding and longterm businessman, contractor and family man who takes pride in and loves his adopted city New Orleans. He stays too long in the evacuated city after the hurricane and is ultimately arrested and jailed along with a few other neighbors who have stayed to protect their properties, by the very forces who have been sent in protect and save people. Anarchy ensues and the area descends into lawlessness making it doubly hard for a Muslim man to be treated fairly.
Eggars’ first person account beautifully and clearly expresses just one of the myriad stories of devastation, but he takes it two steps farther. He helps start several non-profits to aid victims and gives all proceeds from the book to those in need. Yea Dave, a true artist with a conscience!
Wow! Just leaned another new computer skill. I can now take a review from Goodreads and post it to my blog. Onward and upward.