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Zeitoun
Zeitoun
Jan 2, 2026 4:13 AM

Author:Dave Eggers

Zeitoun

WINNER OF THE AMERICAN BOOK AWARD AND THE LA TIMES BOOK AWARD

'Masterly. Brilliantly crafted, powerfully written and deftly reported' Guardian

The urgent and unforgettable true story of post-Katrina New Orleans . . .

In August 2005, as Hurricane Katrina blew in, the city of New Orleans has been abandoned by most citizens. But resident Abdulrahman Zeitoun, though his wife and family had gone, refused to leave. For days he traversed an apocalyptic landscape of flooded streets by canoe. But eventually he came to the attention of those 'guarding' this drowned city. Only then did Zeitoun's nightmare really begin.

Zeitoun is the powerful, ultimately uplifting true story of one man's courage when confronted with an awesome force of nature followed by more troubling human oppression.

'Eggers uses Zeitoun's eyes to report on America's reasonless post-Katrina world, Reminiscent of Gabriel Garcia Márquez's documentaries, this is a true story told with the skills of a master of fiction. Immensely readable' Independent

'The stuff of great narrative non-fiction. Fifty years from now, when people want to know what happened to this once-great city, they will be talking about a family named Zeitoun' The New York Times Book Review

Reviews

Vividly narrated...I believed in this engrossing story and felt my insides quake as Hana approached her inevitable fate

—— Jonathan Mirsky , THE SPECTATOR

Compelling, passionate, tragic

—— Marie Claire

Powerful and affecting, crowded with the details of lives led and miseries inflicted

—— Sunday Times

There are characters whose fate we care about, and a profoundly moving love story threaded between the tenacity of family and the monstrous grind of war. One that cries for you to linger over page by enthralling page

—— Simon Schama , Financial Times

Gripping, moving

—— TLS

Stunning, gracefully written, altogether remarkable

—— LA Times

A sweeping epic, a good old-fashioned page-turner

—— Daily Mail

Lawrence is elegant yet passionate and his imagery is second to none

—— Daily Express, Simon Shepherd's Six Best Books
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