I had been wanting to read this book for quite some time. When it came out, I kept reading about how great it was AND it is a non-fiction story of Hurricane Katrina. For those of you who don't know, my mom, step-dad, and sister were all in New Orleans before, during, and after Hurricane Katrina. They were lucky to "escape" a couple of days after it hit because a random stranger offered to take them in his car to Houston. This is a really great and horrifying story of what happened to New Orleans resident Mr. Zeitoun during all this mess. Mr. Zeitoun is an Arab-American who owned a painting and home repair business and also owned several rental properties. As Hurricane Katrina approached, Zeitoun's wife and children evacuated while Zeitoun stayed around to keep an eye on their properties. Zeitoun used an old canoe to travel around the flooded city and experienced New Orleans as the city was under martial law.
I knew that the story was going to be horrifying, but I didn't know exactly why it would be so disgusting. I was under the impression that Eggers (and Zeitoun) would describe death and rape and so on...but that doesn't really happen. I don't want to say why this story is sickening because I want you to read it and discover his story on your own.
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