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Zeitoun

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Zeitoun

By: Dave Eggers
Narrated by: Firdous Bamji
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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 Americas Disaster Relief Environment Nature & Ecology Outdoors & Nature Science Social Sciences State & Local United States New Orleans Natural Disaster Nonfiction Funny Middle East Iran

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)
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Most relevant
Had no idea of the extent of the Hurricane Katrina impact on the residents of New Orleans; how they were treated & the lack of structure & support. I would like to find out more about the human rights indignities and how the United States is repatriating those that were mistreated.

Incredible human rights violations!

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This book is a long format recap of one family’s experience with hurricane Katrina and the resulting floods in New Orleans. What it tries to be is the story of a hero serves his family and the community, then loses communication with his family because he is wrongfully arrested during the emergency.
Hope the author fails to do is acknowledge that the man disobeyed orders, committed crimes, ignored various people and organisations who gave him warnings which were there to protect his well-being.
It makes unsubstantiated claims that the man was accused of terrorism and that his arrest was because he was a Muslim man. It masquerades as a love story, despite their being clear evidence of coercive control and other forms of abuse.
Following publishing, the central character emerged as an abuser of his family. One can see these patterns even within the text of the book. Long before he was convicted.
Having hoped to read a story about a hero and the events of hurricane Katrina, I have been disappointed.

Reaching for something that isn’t there

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.