Irresistible

Many times an author is defined by his tone, by his determination to include distinct characteristics of his writing in every written work.  Dave Eggers apparently doesn’t buy into this belief, as he reinvented his narrative style from bombastic and conceited to neutral and suspenseful.  In A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Eggers is telling his own story, and his tone is always harsh and defensive, as if he wanted to leave no room for the reader to attack his decisions.  In Zeitoun, Eggers is forced to take a step back.  Because he tells the story of an immigrant family that lived through hurricane Katrina, the reader will never question their decisions. 

After reading Eggers’ memoir, I didn’t really like him.  Yes, the book was fantastic and he writes brilliantly, but he seemed pompous. After reading the first 100 pages of Zeitoun, I am forced to reconsider my opinion.  Eggers’ makes the Muslim couple seem balanced and fair in the midst of a culture that doesn’t accept them.  For Kathy especially, her own family “put pork on the table” (76) knowing that her religion would make her reprimand that.  Yet, she is “forced to let go,” (76) to worry instead for her husband who is sleeping in a two story house that is flooded almost all the way to the roof.  In this book, Eggers is an advocate for people that don’t really need one.  The title of the book in itself is an appeal to ethos.  The name Zeitoun is transformed into a beacon for resilience.  Moreover, as the book progresses, the reader feels empathy (pathos) for the Muslim family that has to live in the midst of the post 9/11 American society, and yet has its values so properly aligned that they are willing to help the people that reject them.  This is not to say that Eggers is useless, or that the story is so powerful that any author could’ve written the book.  What A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius lacks in charisma and humility, Zeitoun makes up for with its open-minded tone.

What can I expect from Eggers now? The only thing that he has proven thus far is that he can easily switch from being detestable to lovable— not to mention politically correct.  As the levees in New Orleans have finally given out, I anticipate nothing less than a plethora of heartwarming stories about hope in the midst of a crisis.  This is where Eggers will shine.  Having lived and fought through a crisis himself; and having written about his own struggles with constant societal spurning, he will make this book one of my all-time favorites.