Zeitoun (book)
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| Zeitoun | |
|---|---|
 Cover of first edition |
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| Author | Dave Eggers |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Nonfiction |
| Publisher | McSweeney's |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 351 pp |
| ISBN | 978-1-934781-63-0 |
| OCLC Number | 332257182 |
Zeitoun is a nonfiction book written by Dave Eggers and published by McSweeney's in 2009. It tells the story of Abdulrahman Zeitoun, the Syrian-American owner of a painting and contracting company in New Orleans who chose to ride out Hurricane Katrina in his Uptown home. After the storm he traveled the flooded city in a secondhand canoe rescuing neighbors, caring for abandoned pets and distributing fresh water.
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[edit] Plot summary
Abdulrahman Zeitoun was born in Jableh, Syria to a Muslim hardware store owner and onetime sailor who insisted that his children learn trades outside the local traditions of fishing and shipbuilding. After a few years of apprenticeship in Jableh, Zeitoun spent ten years working at sea as a crewman, engineer and fisherman. During this time he traveled the world and eventually settled in the United States in 1988. There he met his wife, Kathy — a native of Baton Rouge who had converted to Islam — with whom he founded their business, Zeitoun Painting Contractors, LLC.
In late August, 2005, as Hurricane Katrina approached the city, Kathy and their four children left New Orleans for Baton Rouge. Zeitoun stayed behind to watch over their home, ongoing job sites and rental properties. Once the storm made landfall, their neighborhood (although miles from the nearest levees) was flooded up to the second floor of most houses. Zeitoun began to explore the city in a secondhand canoe, distributing what supplies he had, ferrying neighbors to higher ground and checking on his tenants.
In early September, Zeitoun and three companions were arrested at one of Zeitoun's rental houses by a mixed group of National Guardsmen and local police. Although the men were not immediately charged with any crimes, they were detained in a makeshift jail in a Greyhound bus station for three days before being transferred to Elayn Hunt Correctional Center in nearby St. Gabriel, Louisiana. Zeitoun was held at Hunt for 20 more days without having stood trial. During that time he was refused medical attention and the use of a phone to alert his family of his predicament.
[edit] Writing process
Eggers began work on the book in 2006, after meeting Kathy and Abdulrahman through another McSweeney's project called Voices from the Storm. He worked closely with the Zeitoun family while researching and writing the book, meeting with them multiple times in New Orleans and letting them read six or seven versions of the manuscript.[1] Eggers also visited members of the Zeitoun family living in Syria, as well as Abdulrahman's brother Ahmad, who lives in Spain.
Eggers says he will not personally make money from the book's publication; funds from the book will be distributed by the Zeitoun Foundation, a nonprofit set up by Eggers and the Zeitoun family for this purpose. [1]
[edit] Film adaptation
As of November 2009, IMDb.com lists a film adaptation, directed by Jonathan Demme, for release in 2011.
