Zeitoun

Dave Eggers' second book in as many months is another oral history of unspoken Americans, this time relocating from Darfur's Lost Boys rehabilitating in the US to survivors of Hurricane Katrina. This is very much a post-War on Terror novel with its spiralling paranoia and hints of unseen racism, brilliantly simple and readable, yet never shying away from the horrors that devastated New Orleans.

Long-time New Orleans residents Kathy, a recent convert to Islam who faces casual racism everyday, and her stoic husband Abdulrahim, a contractor, are suddenly confronted with the horrors of the hurricane. Kathy and the children are evacuated while Abdulrahim stays to look after their house and business interests, keeping them safe from potential looters. However, in the wake of the flooding, he takes to canoeing around the city, helping people and pets in distress, feeding dogs, ferrying survivors around and giving his all to help rebuild New Orleans. However, in the midst of the chaos of the city, as the looting and violence increases, supplies dwindle and the city slowly gets cut off from the rest of the country, the authorities enact a martial law policy, thrusting Zeitoun into a nightmare of chaotic bureaucracy and terror.

It's hard to imagine all this happening, least of all in America. But it did, and Eggers gives the prose space to breath, flipping between Zeitoun's battle and unflinching resolve and Kathy's paranoia and lack of knowledge, out of harm's way, with no way of knowing her husband's whereabouts. How could this have happened? How could we all watch and let this happen? Eggers asks these questions subtly, making this book one of honesty, clarity and no pretension, a real work of art.