Reader recommendation: Zeitoun

Zeitoun by Dave Eggers is a book that every American should read. First, it is a page-turner, and second, it is true, about an American citizen and businessman, a Muslim originally from Syria, during the Katrina crisis in New Orleans. Zeitoun's wife had taken the children to safety; he remained to look after their property, paddled about the flooded area in his canoe, rescued several people, fed some abandoned dogs, then – without provocation – was arrested and held incommunicado for many days. We would like to think it could not happen in America, but it did, and with the current fervor over Islam, we need to read this book. It is a true story. When I learned that the author and the family were devoting profits to a small foundation dedicated to legal justice, I bought another copy and am passing it around.