I absolutely love it when a book isn't what I expected. I knew Zeitoun was about a family in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and, um, I wasn't too interested in reading it. But, whoa, did I get sucked into Abdulrahman Zeitoun's life. He is a respected contractor who has lived in New Orleans for years. He stays in the city during the evacuation so that he can check on his properties and help people out. And, so he does. For days, he uses his canoe to paddle around the neighborhoods, feeding dogs and rescuing people stranded in their homes. But eventually everyone starts to leave the city. Looters are everywhere and people are getting desparate, even the officers. Zeitoun is arrested for something. Um, really, something. He isn't really told what he's arrested for and he doesn't even get to call his wife or a lawyer. He's kept in a makeshift prison/kennel in the Greyhound station and taken to a maximum security prison north of town. He's denied medical treatment, denied his phone call, and accused of being Taliban and a terrorist. Ha! I'm embarrassed by how this good man was treated by Americans responsible for upholding our laws. Eggers doesn't preach as he writes this book and never even mentions George Bush, but the reader is allowed to draw his or her own conclusions. To me--corruption. New Orleans=corruption.
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