Brad Feld

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Zeitoun

Nov 17, 2009
Category Books

Over the weekend, I read what I think is going to be my “best book of the year.”  It’s Zeitoun by Dave Eggars of McSweeney’s fame.

Some people just know how to write.  And Eggars is one of them.  Wow.

As I ran around downtown Manhattan this morning thinking about how radically different my run today was from my typical runs around Eldorado Springs and Boulder, I couldn’t help drifting back to Zeitoun.  It’s a stunning story about one man – Abdulrahman Zeitoun – and his family before, during, and after Hurricane Katrina.  But Katrina was only the foreplay for the book – the real story is what happens a week after the storm when Zeitoun disappears.

I won’t ruin the book by telling the story here as it’s worth letting it unfold gradually.  But, gradually in Eggars time means that I read the entire 300 page book in one sitting on the couch on Sunday.

America is an awesome place.  At 6am, in the dark, I ran around one of the biggest cities in the world.  I felt safe.  I saw all different shapes, sizes, colors, and types of people.  It was a completely opposite experience to running near my house, where I can do an entire one hour run and not see another human being.

And then I thought of Zeitoun and how insane humans can get, even in this country.  Take my word for it – it’s powerful and may be the best book of the year.  Get it and read it.

Silly disclaimer for the FTC – I get paid an affiliate fee by Amazon whenever someone clicks on the link above and buys a book.  I’m not sure how much money I get and I’m not motivated to blog about the book because of the payment – this was truly a spectacular book.  In fact, I’m never motivated to blog about anything based on the affiliate fees I get – I do it just to better understand how this stuff works since, ahem, I invest in these types of companies and believe I’m a better investor if I actually use the stuff I invest in.  I can’t tell from your guidelines if they even apply to me (and I don’t think they do), but I thought I’d post this just in case.  Plus it made my post longer and more substantial.