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susanbrooks's review against another edition
4.0
Intense. We spend the first half of the book getting to know and love Syrian Zeitoun and his American wife Kathy, who has converted to Islam. From the description, I knew Zeitoun disappeared after Hurricane Katrina,
but I got more and more tense as I realized what kind of clusterf*** situation was happening to him in the chaos. Will remember it for a long time, much as I have with Eggers' What is the What.
but I got more and more tense as I realized what kind of clusterf*** situation was happening to him in the chaos. Will remember it for a long time, much as I have with Eggers' What is the What.
danihamreads's review
5.0
This book will shake you to the core and leave your blood boiling. A non-fiction account of how a Muslim man was treated on American soil by our government after the worst natural disaster in recent history, this story chronicles Zeitoun's experience as Hurricane Katrina laid waste to the city of New Orleans. Eggers gives an honest and factual run down of the events that followed Zeitoun's refusal to evacuate the city, up to and including his illegal and undocumented arrest and imprisonment. This is a book that should be required reading for all high school students, but never will be due to the fact that it paints our government in a less than positive light.
dlrcope's review
4.0
I was disappointed in the much vaunted "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius", but this book made up for all that.
adria_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
karenleagermain's review
5.0
Based on the true events of Abdulrahman Zeitoun and his family in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, Dave Eggers has written a book so compelling that I nearly read it in one sitting. I hesitate to write too much in this review for fear of spoiling key plot points that really kept me turning the pages.
This story will make you angry. However, I found it difficult to focus the anger. The book highlights so many areas that completely fell apart with Katrina and so much chaos, that it's difficult to place the blame on one area. It's scary to think that a similar situation could occur again with a different disaster or perhaps a terrorist attack. This story made me anxious, sad and upset, but nonetheless, it is an important read. Eggers does a great job at telling the Zeitoun family story with care, but also maintaining a distance to give a fair journalistic style account.
The book also makes you feel that even during terrible tragedies, there are still good people in the world. The story has many examples of people that are just doing their best to help out strangers without expectation.
http://www.alwayspackedforadventure.com
This story will make you angry. However, I found it difficult to focus the anger. The book highlights so many areas that completely fell apart with Katrina and so much chaos, that it's difficult to place the blame on one area. It's scary to think that a similar situation could occur again with a different disaster or perhaps a terrorist attack. This story made me anxious, sad and upset, but nonetheless, it is an important read. Eggers does a great job at telling the Zeitoun family story with care, but also maintaining a distance to give a fair journalistic style account.
The book also makes you feel that even during terrible tragedies, there are still good people in the world. The story has many examples of people that are just doing their best to help out strangers without expectation.
http://www.alwayspackedforadventure.com
lizaroo71's review
4.0
this is the unbelievable story of the zeitoun family. kathy and her husband run a successful painting company in new orleans. they have three children together and kathy has a son from a previous marriage. when hurricane katrina has new orleans in its direct path, kathy takes the children and evacuates to baton rouge to stay with family. her husband, zeitoun, stays behind. this book chronicles the aftermath of one of the worst natural disasters to happen in recent history. an incredible story of faith, humanity and love.
ewg109's review
5.0
I still can't wrap my head around the atrocities of Hurricane Katrina. This book added a whole new dimension to the list. I am horrified and numbed by the actions of our country.
Also, this was my first Eggers and I'm madly in love with his clear, concise, prose. That man doesn't waste a word.
Also, this was my first Eggers and I'm madly in love with his clear, concise, prose. That man doesn't waste a word.
brittrivera's review
5.0
"It was this kind of willful, wildly romantic attention to beauty-crumbling and fading beauty needing constant attention-that made this city unlike any other and such an unparalleled sort of environment for a builder." -page 21
I've been reading a lot of non-fiction lately and I can easily say that this is one of the best I've read. It flowed like a narrative and was compelling and extremely well-written. I think having been to New Orleans so recently that I have a soft spot for this book, but regardless I loved it. The story itself part horrific and part hopeful. A definite eye-opener about the world we live in. I feel so uniformed and so compelled to do more. I look forward to reading more of David Eggers in the future.
"New Orleans, his home, needs no speeches, no squabbling, and no politics. It needs new flooring, and new roofing, new windows and doors and stairs."-page 322
"Every time he sees a new home under construction, no matter who's doing it, he smiles. Build, he thinks. Build, build, build. -p. 323
I've been reading a lot of non-fiction lately and I can easily say that this is one of the best I've read. It flowed like a narrative and was compelling and extremely well-written. I think having been to New Orleans so recently that I have a soft spot for this book, but regardless I loved it. The story itself part horrific and part hopeful. A definite eye-opener about the world we live in. I feel so uniformed and so compelled to do more. I look forward to reading more of David Eggers in the future.
"New Orleans, his home, needs no speeches, no squabbling, and no politics. It needs new flooring, and new roofing, new windows and doors and stairs."-page 322
"Every time he sees a new home under construction, no matter who's doing it, he smiles. Build, he thinks. Build, build, build. -p. 323