Zeitoun

Synopsis
A Syrian-American entrepreneur runs up against overzealous National Guard troops and a nonfunctioning bureaucracy in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

My thoughts
This is a vivid portrait of a great American city devastated by a natural disaster and an American citizen victimized by law enforcement run amok. Dave Eggers won an American Book Award for Zeitoun. I'd never read any of his books, and now I see why he's lauded as one of the best writers of his generation. His writing style is fluid and eminently readable. He has a gift for bringing events to life and making it feel like you're experiencing the sounds, smells, and sights in his books, and that's especially powerful in Zeitoun. Eggers describes how silent the city was, how dark it got at night, how clear the water was in the beginning and how polluted it got as the days went by.

I was moving when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, so I didn't have TV or Internet and wasn't as connected as I normally am. Zeitoun made me realize the extent of the madness for the first time (nearly 10 years later). Eggers writes of National Guardsmen who refused to help rescue or evacuate people (what were they there for, if not that?), leaving civilians to help each other as best they could.

The first chunk of the book actually made it seem fun to be in New Orleans immediately after the hurricane struck. Zeitoun had weathered the storm at home, and after the city flooded he happily paddled around in his canoe, feeding the neighbors' dogs and checking on the rental properties he owned. But then the story shifts to his wife Kathy's point of view. She had evacuated the city with their kids and he had been calling her from one of the rentals, where the phones still worked. But then the calls stopped and she had no idea what had happened to him.

Eggers tells the story wholly from the Zeitouns' perspective. Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans only four years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks when the United States was fighting wars in both Afghanistan and Iraq. 9/11 had shown the United States that it is vulnerable to terrorist attacks, but it's difficult to excuse the arrogance and ignorance of the National Guardsmen who jumped to the conclusion that Zeitoun was a terrorist and insisted, "You're Taliban."

It was impossible for me to see the events unfolding in Ferguson and not compare them to this book. In both cases, people in power (the National Guard in Zeitoun and the police force in Ferguson) saw evil where none existed. In Zeitoun's case, the people who arrested him in a house he owned became convinced that he was a terrorist bent on exploiting the storm-ravaged city, presumably because of his ethnicity. In Ferguson, police responded with unnecessary force to perceived threats, arresting journalists who were just doing their jobs and presumably rounding up others who hadn't done anything wrong. This isn't to say there weren't looters in New Orleans after Katrina or in Ferguson during the protests, but in both cases law enforcement officials ended up hurting the people they were supposed to protect. Race and culture played an important role in both situations. When taken in this context, Zeitoun is all the more provocative.

Zeitoun was published in 2009 and at the end of the book Eggers suggests that the family lived happily ever after. They welcomed a baby boy and rebuilt their contracting business. I don't know how much Eggers knew about their personal lives or their relationship with each other, but the book depicted them as a loving couple who were fiercely devoted to each other. That was evidently not the case. The Zeitouns divorced in 2012 and Kathy claimed her husband had been abusive throughout their marriage, and in 2013 Zeitoun was found not guilty on charges that he tried to kill Kathy. That inevitably changes my perception of Zeitoun the man, but I think Zeitoun the book stands independently as an indictment of the situation in New Orleans immediately after the hurricane.

Bottom line
A thought-provoking account of religious and cultural tensions in the United States.

Fine print
Zeitoun, by Dave Eggers
Genre: non-fiction, current events
Photo from Goodreads
I borrowed this book from my library.

Bad Intentions

Synopsis
A young man named Jon Moreno drowns in a frigid lake. Was it suicide? Was it murder? Was I supposed to care?

My thoughts
It was murder, and the weird thing about this book is that the reader knows it from the get-go, making this not so much a whodunit as a whydunit. This slim mystery took its sweet time meandering to the answer, and when it came it left me wondering, "that's ... it?".

I've never read a mystery novel like this before. It's billed as "Inspector Sejer #9," but the good inspector is merely a periphery figure. He shows up on the crime scene long enough to form the suspicion that Jon's friends, Axel and Philip, may have something to hide, but then he disappears and the main action (if you can call it that) unfolds mostly from their points of view.

Steig Larsson's Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series made Scandinavia seem utterly depraved, but this book left me with the opposite impression. Bad Intentions was probably the tamest mystery I've ever read. Maybe I should have started at the beginning of the series so that I would have gotten to know Inspector Sejer and appreciated his brief cameos in this book.

Bottom line
A quick read but there are better mysteries.

Fine print
Bad Intentions, by Karin Fossum
Genre: mystery
Photo from Goodreads
I borrowed this book from my library.

The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln

Synopsis
Alternate history in which Lincoln survives the assassination attempt only to be impeached. Told from the point of view of Abigail Canner, an African-American law clerk who winds up on his legal team.

My thoughts
It's a rare author who can meld action with courtroom drama in a way that keeps the reader flipping pages. It's especially difficult with historical fiction. Stephen L. Carter is a law professor who's written both non-fiction and fiction (both contemporary and historical), and he manages his task well.

What would have happened if Abraham Lincoln had not been killed? It's one of the most intriguing questions in U.S. history (right up there with what would JFK's legacy have been if he had lived). Carter argues convincingly in an author's note that's almost as interesting as the novel that some of Lincoln's actions during the Civil War could potentially have been construed as impeachable offenses, and the postwar political climate could have swung against Lincoln.

Abigail Canner is a smart, dynamic protagonist, and seeing the story unfold from her point of view makes it all the more fascinating. She is uniquely placed to unravel the plot against Lincoln because of who she is. However, this also strains credulity. Would an African-American woman have been able to serve as a law clerk on the impeachment trial of the President of the United States? That would have been impossible in the 1960s, never mind the 1860s.

One minor quibble is a little romance that seems to be thrown in just because. It's alternately sweet and slightly irritating when it interferes with the main narrative.

Bottom line
Enjoyable alternate history.

Fine print
The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln, by Stephen L. Carter
Genre: historical fiction
Photo from Goodreads
I borrowed this book from the library.

A Wizard of Earthsea

Synopsis
This is the first book in the Earthsea Cycle. It follows the adventures of a boy named Ged as he unleashes a dangerous magical enemy and then tries to defeat it.

My thoughts
This is technically a YA novel, but Ursula K. Le Guin's writing is sophisticated and neither the prose nor the plot is dumbed down for a young audience. The plot is actually fairly dark—Ged's arrogance leads him to attempt a spell that nearly kills him (and does kill one of his mentors). Humbled and wracked with guilt, Ged slowly recovers and becomes a full-fledged wizard. But he is pursued by the shadow he unleashed with his ill-advised spell and he knows he must eventually confront it and either defeat it or die trying.

It sounds exciting; unfortunately, it's not. There are lots of details of magewinds and maritime jargon and not enough adventure. It's a good thing it was less than 200 pages or I wouldn't have finished.

Bottom line
I really wanted to like it because the book's themes—friendship, coming of age, coming to terms with one's own limitations, the search for meaning in life—resonate with all audiences. But it was just too slow.

Fine print
A Wizard of Earthsea, by Ursula K. Le Guin
Genre: YA, science fiction
Photo from Goodreads
I bought this book at my library's used book sale.

Turn Right At Machu Picchu

Synopsis
Mark Adams spends his midlife crisis trekking through Peru and recounting the explorations of Hiram Bingham, the first Westerner to see Machu Picchu.

My thoughts
I'm a little weary of the whole subgenre of "bored well-to-to Westerner quits his day job and jets off to find himself in a foreign country" travel writing. I couldn't bring myself to finish Under the Tuscan Sun, and I haven't even picked up Eat, Love, Pray. But when it's done right, it's really a joy to read, and my friend Sarah loved this book (yes, I'm linking to it even though Sarah is the only one who actually reads this blog). Adams isn't as superb as Bill Bryson, but this is still a worthwhile read.

Adams is good at what he does. I haven't been to Machu Picchu, but Adams is at his finest when he's describing his experiences there. But the book does slow down when he detours to the early twentieth century to describe American explorer Hiram Bingham's "discovery" of Machu Picchu. The backstory is interesting and I didn't know it, but it sounds all too familiar—Western explorer stumbles onto ruins the locals have always known about and announces his discovery to much fanfare.

Bottom line
This made me want to see Machu Picchu for myself.

Fine print
Turn Right at Machu Picchu, by Mark Adams
Genre: travel, memoir
Photo from Goodreads
I borrowed this book from the library.

Dreams from My Father

Synopsis
Written before he launched his political career, Barack Obama describes his early life in Hawaii and Indonesia, his college career, and his days as a community organizer in Chicago - all influenced by the dreams of the father he never really knew.

My thoughts
I'm generally leery of political biographies or books by politicians in general, but I was interested in Dreams from My Father because it was written before Obama was elected to public office. I figured that meant it wouldn't be skewed by a political agenda. I'm glad I read it because it's a very honest, thoughtful book about a young man finding his place in the world and confronting some of the most divisive aspects of life in the United States.

Obama had a unique childhood. He was born in Hawaii to a white American mother and a black Kenyan father. His parents divorced when he was young and his father pursued a doctorate at Harvard before returning to Kenya. His mother stayed in Hawaii before moving with her son to Indonesia. Obama returned to Hawaii to attend Punahou, the top private school in the state. From there he decided to attend Occidental College in California and pursued an office career for a while before he pursued his impulse to change the world by becoming a community organizer. Throughout his childhood and young adulthood, Obama struggled with his identity, and the book closes with his poignant trip to Kenya to visit his father's family.

It's an amazing journey, one that makes his subsequent career from community organizer to president of the United States almost mundane by comparison.

Bottom line
This is an important book to read if you want to learn more about Barack Obama, American race relations, or white colonialism in Africa.

Fine print
Dreams from My Father, by Barack Obama
Genre: memoir
Photo from Goodreads
I bought this book as a birthday present for myself ... in 2008 (and I just got around to reading it).

Steve Jobs

Synopsis
A thorough biography of Apple's mercurial co-founder, savior, and legend.

My thoughts
This biography was hugely entertaining and full of information. Not only did Steve Jobs live an epic life, but Walter Isaacson interviewed practically everyone Jobs ever met to research this book. Isaacson knows how to skillfully sift through all the gossip and other noise to present a well-rounded portrait of his subject. That said, he wasn't able to remain completely impartial. It's almost like he was in awe of Jobs (not that I blame him).

This is certainly a warts-and-all profile, and I came away with the impression that Jobs was a brilliant man but not someone I'd want to work for. He was stubborn, ambitious, and egotistical, and although those qualities translated into enormous success in the business world, they also pushed some of his co-workers and subordinates to the breaking point. It's ironic that these qualities also contributed to his early death. When Jobs was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, he initially chose not to follow his doctors' advice. Defying authority and thumbing his nose at conventional advice had worked spectacularly in his professional life, but it had devastating consequences for his health.

One of the small pleasures of this book was that it gave me the thrill of discovering the inside story to many of the technological innovations that I take for granted. Jobs's magnetic personality inspired his subordinates and spurred them to come up with solutions to problems most people wouldn't even have realized existed. The revolutionary scrolling wheel on the first iPod was one such example. It's a relatively simple idea, but it elegantly streamlined the process of scrolling through a long list of songs on a small screen.

The book also made me appreciate Jobs's (and Apple's) dedication to aesthetics. He understood exactly what technology people wanted (a personal computer, a tablet computer, a multipurpose phone/music player/video game console), and he cared what it looked like. "It's in Apple's DNA that technology alone is not enough," he explained when he introduced the iPad 2. "It's technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the results that make our hearts sing." Jobs could give people what they didn't even know they wanted because he had a passion for the entire product, not just one aspect of it. That's an incredibly rare trait.

Bottom line
Compulsively readable.

Fine print
Steve Jobs, by Walter Isaacson
Genre: biography
Photo from Goodreads
I borrowed this book from my library.