Zeitoun

Dave Eggers has been writing fascinating nonfiction books by people who have had horrific experiences and managed to survive them with grace. The first of these books, What Is The What? Tells the story of one of Africa’s “lost boys” and his struggle for survival in and success in America. The latest, Zeitoun, tells the story of an Islamic American family’s plight during Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. It tells the story of a city caught off guard, the generous helping spirit of one man, and the failure of institutions long after the fact of wrongly incarcerating the man and the struggle to return to normalcy after the natural disaster. Eggers tell the story with workman like efficiency and always reminds me how relatively easy I’ve had it throughout my life. I also applaud the fact that Eggers donates the profits from these books to the families and sets up foundations to help others like them. It is a very worthwhile and altruistic thing to do. I recommend you by a copy to support this wonderful concept.