Drink

Via Bookninja Comics  :)

Dave Eggers - MPAC Media Awards 2010

"I feel like there is the project of getting a story told and writing a book and then there is that other thing, which is learning from people." -Dave Eggers

Zeitoun by Dave Eggers

This is the best book I have read so far this year.

Eggers relates the true story of the Zeitoun (Zay-Toon) family and asserts that "dates, times, locations and other facts have been confirmed by independent sources and historical record". Abdulrahman Zeitoun, a Syrian Muslim living in New Orleans with his wife, Kathy and four children, is an well-known business man who owns a painting/contractor business. He's a hard worker and a family man. When it was announced that Katrina was headed straight for New Orleans and the governor declared an evacuation, Kathy and the children headed to Baton Rouge and Zeitoun stayed home, prepared to fix anything in the house as needed.

The family didn't expect such a catastrophe - I don't think many people did. After the hurricane passed Zeitoun used an old canoe he bought and searched for those in need of help; animals and people alike. Since many people who evacuated the city thought they were only going to be gone a day or two, there were a lot of pets left behind. Little did they know they wouldn't return for weeks. "It was one of the strangest aspects of this in-between time - after the storm but before anyone had returned to the city - the presence of these thousands of left-behind animals." Zeitoun believed that he had stayed in the city for a reason and did all he could to help anyone who needed it.

He set out alone for a while and before long, at the corner of Canal and Scott, he encountered a small boat. It was a military craft, with three men aboard: a soldier, a man with a video camera, and one holding a microphone and a notebook. They waved Zeitoun down and on of the men identified himself as a reporter. "What are you doing?" the reporter asked. "Just checking on friends' houses, trying to help," Zeitoun said. "Who are you working with?" the reporter asked. "Anybody," Zeitoun said. "I work with anybody."

Not only does this book detail the horrible Katrina catastrophe, it also examines what it means to be a Muslim in America in the 21st century. For me, this book was a shocking reminder of what many of our citizens have to face simply because of their religion. It provides a behind-the-scenes look at the horrific behavior of the NOPD, FEMA, the National Guard, and the US government. With the five year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina this week, this book really hit home. If you are interested in learning more about the disaster and the racial profiling that occurred as a result, I suggest you read this book. It's told in a very straightforward way and was all at once touching, heartbreaking and disturbing.

He was so content in this country, so impressed with and loving of its opportunities, but why then, sometimes, did Americans fall short of their best selves?

If I could recommend everyone in America read one book this year, Zeitoun would be it.

Publisher: Vintage Books, 2009

The Chicken or the Egg?

Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, former editor of the New York Times Book Review, responds to the assertion that only while male authors are getting their books reviewed:

I think it reflects what's being published. Does the book review - I don't know what's being published by smaller presses that might be publishing Latino writers, for example, African-American writers. But the major houses are simply doing less diverse books in every respect because they are aiming for the bestseller list.

Listen to his entire NPR interview here.

A Disaster Mythical in Scale and Severity

Reading now: Zeitoun by Dave Eggers

The novelty of the new world brought forth the adventurer in him - he wanted to see it all, the whole city, what had become of it. But the builder in him thought of the damage, how long it would take to rebuild. Years, maybe decades. He wondered if the world at large could already see what he was seeing, a disaster mythical in scale and severity.

This Sunday, August 29th marks five years since Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. I decided to read Zeitoun, Eggers work of non-fiction that centers around one family's experience with the disaster and it's aftermath. I am having a hard time putting this book down, as this family's experience is both incredibly captivating and utterly heartbreaking. Yes, I was crying after just 167 pages - and I can count on one hand books that have made me cry.

I wasn't a huge fan Eggers' What is the What, but Zeitoun is most certainly becoming one of my favorite reads of the year. If it's on your TBR pile I suggest you pick it up this week.

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

Wow and wow. This is a fantastic book.

It's hard to summarize Oryx and Crake. So, I'm going to cheat and use the synopsis on the back of the book: "Oryx and Crake is at once an unforgettable love story and a compelling vision of the future. Snowman, known as Jimmy before mankind was overwhelmed by a plague, is struggling to survive in a world where he may be the last human, and mourning the loss of his best friend, Crake, and the beutiful and elusive Oryx whom they both loved. In search of answers, Snowman embarks on a journey - with the help of the green-eyed Children of Crake - through the lush wilderness that was so recently a great city, until powerful corporations took mankind on an uncontrolled genetic engineering ride." 

Oryx and Crake is much less a love story than it is a glimpse into a very realistic world that, unfortunately, doesn't seem so distant. While the world Atwood portrays is completely realistic it is, at the same time, so far beyond anything I could ever dream up. Not only is Atwood a fantastic writer, she is also a very imaginative story teller.

This book takes a little while to pick up. It is the first book in the MadAddam Trilogy, so Atwood has to lay the groundwork for the following novels (the second of which has been published and I will be purchasing immediately, The Year of the Flood). So, if you do pick this up I beg you to give it a chance. We are talking at least 200 pages. Trust me, it's very worth it. 

For me, this was one of those rare books that both challenges and changes the way I look at society and the inner workings of the world. Atwood exaggerates our post-modern society, removing standard ideals and values, and shows us what the human race is capable of at it's very worst. My description makes the book sound utterly depressing but I promise you it's not. While Atwood destroys the human race, she creates the Children of Crake; creatures so innocent and endearing in their own way, creatures made without the destructive forces of humanity, the reader can't help but become intrigued. There are also glimpses of hope and kindness, passages that made me smile:

"They understood about dreaming. He knew that: they dreamed themselves. Crake hadn't been able to eliminate dreams. We're hard-wired for dreams, he'd said. He couldn't get rid of the singing either. We're hard-wired for singing. Singing and dreams were intertwined.

Like The Handmaid's Tale, Atwood creates a world that is so detailed and unique, completely bizarre yet completely realistic. It's a complex novel that left me thinking long after I put it down. Ultimately, this book makes you think in a way that you may not have before and for me, those are the best kind of books. I can't wait to start The Year of the Flood.

Publisher: Anchor Books, a division of Random House, 2003

Empire of Illusion

An incredibly relevant video I encourage you all to watch:

Hang On to the Words

Reading now: Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

"Hang on to the words," he tells himself. The odd words, the old words, the rare ones. Valance. Norn. Serendipity. Pibroch. Lubricious. When they're gone out of his head, these words, they'll be gone, everywhere, forever. As if they had never been."

One of my all-time favorite books is Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, a wonderfully creative dystopian novel. Oryx and Crake is my second Atwood and so far, it's just as good as my first. After I finished The Woman Warrior I was looking at books on my TBR pile trying to decide what to read next. I picked up Oryx and Crake to read a page or two and get a feel for the narrative - 70 pages later I realized I had inadvertently decided.