ZEITOUN, by Dave Eggers

Subject of a new novel by Dave Eggers, the land of the free is at the mercy once again of it's greatest nemesis: itself. Eggers follows the story of Abdulrahman Zeitoun, a contractor who remains in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. His properties, too valuable to leave behind, demand his immediate attention after the storm, and he tirelessly attends to their dilapidation. Kathy, his wife, and his children flee the city to live with family, and keep contact with Abdulrahman until they suddenly lose contact... mysteriously. Zeitoun ends up being apprehended by strange police officers, whose markings are indistinguishable (it is learned later that they work for FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency). He is thrown into a makeshift prison without being read his Miranda rights, and without any reason for arrest. It is basically one of the greatest American nightmares, as Guantanamo Bay hits the homeland.

Abdulrahman Zeitoun

Zeitoun's situation becomes increasingly frustrating for the reader to handle. Eggers does such an acute rendering of Zeitoun's character, bringing out his hard work ethic, his good fatherly traits, his devotion to his wife, and when that character is recklessly shit on by FEMA police, the reader is bound to get pissed. The peak of this frustration comes when Abdulrahman pleads to a guard for a phone call to connect with his wife, and the guard responds by disregarding the plea, saying that Zeitoun's cell mate requires some gay love and that he should provide it for him. Racial bigotry also plays a significant role in his incarceration; he is Syrian, and a suspected "terrorist."

To think that these makeshift prisons even existed should make Americans, and anyone who believes in the idea of a free society, stop and think about how bureaucracy can create very corrupt situations. Read ZEITOUN not for its entertainment value, as it is written by Dave Eggers the journalist, and rests on a didactic foundation. It is neither friendly nor whimsical in the ways that make A HEARTBREAKING WORK OF STAGGERING GENIUS a rich literary creation, but informative and eerily true. Read it because it is stories such as Abdulrahman Zeitoun's that are apt to be forgotten if not written down, these powerful keys that remind us of our curable negligence of injustice.