Hurricane Katrina in his
Uptown
Uptown may refer to:
Neighborhoods or regions in several cities
United States
* Uptown, entertainment district east of Downtown and Midtown Albuquerque, New Mexico
* Uptown Charlotte, North Carolina
* Uptown, area surrounding the University of C ...
home.
After the hurricane, he traveled the flooded city in a secondhand canoe rescuing neighbors, caring for abandoned pets and distributing fresh water, but was arrested without reason or explanation at one of his rental houses, along with three others, by a mixed group of
U.S. Army National Guard soldiers and local police officers. Zeitoun and the others were accused of terrorist activities, presumably because of the large amount of money found in their possession as well as maps of the city and a storage disc, and were detained for 23 days. Zeitoun was refused medical attention and the use of a phone to alert his family. His wife and daughters, who were staying with friends far away from the city, only learned that he had disappeared.
Plot summary
Abdulrahman Zeitoun grew up in Syria. After a few years of apprenticeship in the Syrian port city of
Jableh
)
, settlement_type = City
, motto =
, image_skyline = Jableh Collage.jpg
, imagesize = 250px
, image_caption = General view of city and port • Roman Amphitheater• A ...
, Zeitoun spent twenty years working at sea as a crewman, engineer and fisherman. During this time he traveled the world and eventually settled in the United States in 1988. Zeitoun met his wife Kathy, a native of
Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of countie ...
, with whom he founded their business, Zeitoun Painting Contractors LLC. Kathy converted to Islam.
In late August 2005, as Hurricane Katrina approached the city, Kathy and their four children left New Orleans for Baton Rouge. Zeitoun stayed behind to watch over their home, ongoing job sites and rental properties. Once the storm made landfall, their neighborhood (although miles from the nearest levees) was flooded up to the second floor of most houses. Zeitoun began to explore the city in a secondhand canoe, distributing what supplies he had, ferrying neighbors to higher ground and caring for abandoned dogs.
On September 6, Zeitoun and three companions were arrested at one of Zeitoun's rental houses by a mixed group of
U.S. Army National Guardsmen, local police and police from out of state. They were detained in a makeshift jail in a
Greyhound
The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Since the rise in large-scale adoption of retired racing Greyhounds, the breed has seen a resurgen ...
bus station -"
Camp Greyhound" - for three days before being transferred to
Elayn Hunt Correctional Center in nearby
St. Gabriel, Louisiana
St. Gabriel is a city in Iberville Parish, Louisiana, Iberville Parish, Louisiana, United States. The city of St. Gabriel includes the areas of Sunshine, Louisiana, Sunshine and Carville, Louisiana, Carville. Part of the Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Ba ...
. Zeitoun was held at Hunt for 20 more days without trial, but he was given a bond of 75 thousand dollars and read his charges. He was interviewed by officers and later by ICE officials and put in segregated cells.
Writing procedure
Eggers began work on the book in 2006, after meeting Kathy and Abdulrahman through another McSweeney's project calle
''Voices from the Storm'' He worked closely with the Zeitoun family while researching and writing the book, meeting with them multiple times in New Orleans and letting them read six or seven versions of the manuscript.
Eggers visited members of the Zeitoun family living in Syria, as well as Abdulrahman's brother Ahmad, who lives in Spain. Eggers said he would not personally make money from the book's publication; any funds from the book would be distributed by the Zeitoun Foundation, a nonprofit set up by Eggers and the Zeitoun family.
Reception
''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cult ...
'' put it on its end-of-the-decade "best-of" list, saying of Eggers that, "He kicked off the decade as the look-at-me stylist behind 2000's ''
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
''A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius'' is a memoir by Dave Eggers released in 2000. It chronicles his stewardship of his younger brother Christopher "Toph" Eggers following the cancer-related deaths of his parents.
The book was a commer ...
''. The fact that Eggers bookended it with this gut-wrenchingly poignant and selfless Katrina story proves that even boy wonders can grow up."
''Zeitoun'' was nominated in the Creative Nonfiction category for the 2010 California Book Awards.
Film conversion
In 2009, an animated film based on the book was announced, set to be directed by
Jonathan Demme
Robert Jonathan Demme ( ; February 22, 1944 – April 26, 2017) was an American filmmaker. Beginning his career under B-movie producer Roger Corman, Demme made his directorial debut with the 1974 women-in-prison film '' Caged Heat'', befo ...
. However, in May 2014, ''
The Playlist'' reported that the film was "percolat
ngin development".
Aftermath
The book describes the difficulty Kathy had in the years afterward coping with the stress of the jailing and related events. The couple's relationship deteriorated in subsequent years, and they divorced in 2012.
In August 2012, he was charged with plotting to have Kathy Zeitoun, her son, and another man murdered. In July 2013, Zeitoun was tried and found not guilty of charges of attempted first-degree murder and solicitation of first-degree murder. The state's main witness, who had an extensive multi-state criminal record, was found not credible. In 2016, he was convicted of felony stalking his ex-wife.
References
External links
*Ed Pilkington,
The amazing true story of Zeitoun, ''The Guardian,'' 11 March 2010. An interview with Abdulrahman Zeitoun
How a Hero in Hurricane Katrina Was Arrested, Labeled a Terrorist and Imprisoned- video report by ''
Democracy Now!
''Democracy Now!'' is an hour-long American TV, radio, and Internet news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman (who also acts as the show's executive producer), Juan González (journalist), Juan González, and Nermeen Shaikh. The show, whi ...
''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zeitoun (Book)
2009 non-fiction books
21st-century history books
History books about the United States
Books about Hurricane Katrina
McSweeney's books
Books by Dave Eggers
History of New Orleans