Zeitoun

Rigorously researched, meticulously structured, and written with a texture that one associates with fiction, journalist/humanitarian Dave Egger's Zeitoun impressively chronicles the day-to-day nightmares of life during Hurricane Katrina for New Orleans residents. Drawing on over three years of research, Eggers creates rich, nuanced portraits of his subjects: Abdulrahman Zeitoun, a resourceful, hard-working man devoted to his family and his Muslim faith, and Kathy, his equal match: long-suffering but firm in her resolve, and a convert to Islam. As Hurricane Katrina approaches, Kathy leaves, taking their four children with her. Zeitoun stays to protect their property and Eggers keeps the focus on him, recording the increasingly dire scenes as the waters rise. When Zeitoun goes missing, Eggers switches to Kathy and her growing panic as she tries to track down her husband in a drowned city. Eggers deftly shuttles between the two perspectives in a controlled sweep that widens to take in religious intolerance among siblings as well as the inhumane policies of Homeland Security. Though the story in itself is gut-wrenching, Eggers occasionally goes too far in asserting his authorial position over the information at hand, adding a blandly optimistic, uplifting tone at the end that feels inorganic and shallow. Quibbles aside, Zeitoun remains a powerful record of crisis, injustice, and perseverance.