Article of the Week 11: IRB Section 1

The author of Zeitoun, Dave Eggers, has had much experience in publishing. He has written six books, with this one being his most recent. He is also the founder and editor of a private publishing company called McSweeney's.

Zeitoun was written in 2009, but focuses mostly on the few days surrounding Hurricane Katrina in 2005. is a story about a Syrian-American man and his experiences in New Orleans and with Katrina. In this section, the author sets up the conflict in the main storyline. Zeitoun is a relentless worker who owns a handyman business. He offers pretty much any job such as painting, paving, or plumbing. His wife hears about the storm on the news and decides to leave the area, but Zeitoun stays to take care of his company. When the storm hits, Zeitoun is not worries, but eventually the levies start overflowing. This causes a major flood and Zeitoun's first story is flooded. Soon, Zeitoun decides to leave his house and he takes a canoe he bought a few years ago around the city. Always working, Zeitoun visits his various properties and on the way saves eight people from being trapped in their houses. The section ended with Zeitoun telling his wife that he wished to say in New Orleans to help save people. Other parallel stories are also told as flashbacks. They mostly tell the hardships of two Muslims running their own business in America.

This book was written for people with open minds. It brings up some controversial issues such as religion and sexual orientation. Nonetheless, it only speaks to Zeitoun and Kathy’s points of view and does not push a certain belief at the reader. Also, it was written for people interested in Hurricane Katrina and the struggles it posed to families. Most interesting, however, are how Muslims are treated in such a situation. Both adults have an interesting point of view, because Kathy converted late in life and Zeitoun lived in a wholly Muslim area for his early life.

One device I thought was interesting was the way that the author refers to Abdulrahman Zeitoun mainly by his last name. It was stated that he was referred as Zeitoun because most people could not pronounce his first name, but I believe this to be almost a commentary on present-day America. People are so little invested in other people that they are too lazy to learn a man’s first name. This then is juxtaposed with Zeitoun’s accepting demeanor. He is willing to forgive people who slight him and many of his clients do not even learn his first name.