I just finished Zeitoun a few days ago, and it’s staying with me. Full disclosure: I’m an Eggers. I’ve read Heartbreaking Work, What is the What, and You Shall Know Our Velocity.  When my wife and I were in San Francisco recently we made sure to visit 826 Valencia - the definition of what a tutoring program should look like. I’ve even got the McSweeney’s Iphone App (alright – enough snickering).

That said, none of his work since Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius has really stuck with me. I enjoyed What is the What quite a lot, but I don’t see myself rereading it. Zeitoun, on the other hand, has been a constantly hanging out in the back of my brain since I started it.

The quick synopsis – Katrina hits New Orleans. Abdulrahman Zeitoun, a contractor sticks around to keep track of his properties. His wife and kids flee the area. Zeitoun, in an old fishing boat helps stranded New Orleanians, feeds stranded pets, and keeps track of his stranded friends. Things go down hill from here as Zeitoun is confronted by the relief effort.

Part 1 is a unique, and uplifting account of a group of people responding to the tragedy of Katrina. It’s easy to quickly fall in love with Zeitoun and his family. The Zeitouns are Muslim and the story is definitely one of the Muslim American experience. But Eggers is an adept storyteller and is able to present the Zeitouns with more than that singular dimension. I found myself smiling as I read about these people gracefully dealing with an extreme tradgedy. It’s uplifting without feeling trite.

The remainder of the book sees the Zeitoun family deal with the real tradgedy of Katrina, which unfortunately isn’t the aftermath of the storm but instead is the aftermath of our response. I will avoid too much detail because you should be as shocked as I was reading about what they had to endour. Suffice it to say the media didn’t scratch the surface of the bungled recovery effort. It would be comical if it wasn’t so disgusting.

Zeitoun = Double plus good.