Fall 2010 sfpl.org/OneCityOneBook CONTENTS

Welcome ...... 1

About the Book and Author ...... 2

Schedule of Events ...... 4

Discussion Questions ...... 8

Want to get Involved? ...... 10

Suggested Reading ...... 11

Acknowledgements ...... 12

For updated event information visit sfpl.org/OneCityOneBook WELCOME A message from Mayor Gavin Newsom

For the sixth year in a row I am pleased to welcome you to the Public Library’s One City One Book: San Francisco Reads, our city’s annual communal celebration of the joys of reading. Join thousands of other readers at book store events, library discussions, film screenings and dozens of other programs focusing on Dave Egger’s award winning book . A message from City Librarian Luis Herrera

Welcome to our popular citywide book club One City One Book: San Francisco Reads. This year’s selection is ’s New York Times best- selling book Zeitoun. This true story chronicles longtime New Orleans residents Abdulrahman and Kathy Zeitoun and their struggles during and after devastated New Orleans. As the New York Times Book Review said “Eggers’ tone is pitch perfect — suspense blended with just enough information to stoke reader outrage and what is likely to be a typical response: How could this happen in America?” We are honored to have San Francisco author Dave Eggers participating in many events at book stores, the library and school visits. I know this book will inspire many people. Thank you for being part of One City One Book: San Francisco Reads.

or call (415) 557-4277. We’re on Facebook and Twitter too! 1 ZEITOUN BY DAVE EGGERS About The Book About the Author

Abdulrahman Zeitoun is a Syrian-born Dave Eggers is the author of six previous entrepreneur who runs a busy painting company books, including , a finalist in New Orleans. He is a devout Muslim, married for the 2006 National Book Critics Circle to a native of Baton Rouge who had converted Award and winner of France’s Prix Médicis to Islam before meeting Zeitoun. As Hurricane Etranger. That book, about Valentino Achak Katrina barrels toward New Orleans, his wife Deng, a survivor of the civil war in southern Kathy takes the children out of town, while Sudan, gave birth to the Valentino Achak Abdulrahman stays to keep an eye on their Deng Foundation, run by Mr. Deng and house and several rental properties they own. dedicated to building secondary schools in In the first couple of days, his decision to stay southern Sudan. His most recent book, behind seems a good one, and even after the Zeitoun, was awarded the LA Times Book levees break and the streets and houses fill Award, the American Book Award, the with water, he is able to help several people Northern California Book Award, the Robert F. who have stayed behind but now need to be Kennedy Distinguished Honor, and the Muslim rescued. As the National Guard enter the city, Public Affairs Council’s Media Award. Eggers armed with machine guns and surveillance is the founder and editor of McSweeney’s, helicopters, things begin to go very wrong for an independent publishing house based in Abdulrahman. He is taken into custody and San Francisco that produces a quarterly journal, put into a temporary jail—a cage, in fact— a monthly magazine (The Believer), and Wholphin, a quarterly DVD of short films hastily erected behind the Greyhound station. and documentaries. In 2002, with Ninive Calegari, he co-founded , There he is subject to strip searches, and he a nonprofit writing and tutoring center for youth in the Mission District of San witnesses beatings and other mistreatment Francisco. Local communities have since opened sister 826 centers in , of fellow prisoners, and is denied the right to , , Ann Arbor, Seattle, and D.C. In 2004, Eggers phone his wife and let her know where he is. taught at the University of California-Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, Zeitoun’s ordeal is the main subject of this and there, with Dr. Lola Vollen, he co-founded Voice of Witness, a series of harrowing nonfiction book, while Eggers books using oral history to illuminate human rights crises around the world. In enriches the shocking tale of injustice with 2010, Eggers founded Scholarmatch, an online forum that connects college- a richly layered account of Zeitoun’s early life bound students with donors who want to stay connected with the future leaders on the coast of Syria, his large and loving of America. Eggers has also been honored by The Muslim Public Affairs Council, family, his relationships with his friends, The Council on American-Islamic Relations, The Arab Cultural Community employees, and neighbors. Center, and The Arab American Institute.

2 For updated event information visit sfpl.org/OneCityOneBook or call (415) 557-4277. We’re on Facebook and Twitter too! 3 ONE CITY ONE BOOK September Saturday, Sept. 11 2-3 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 28 Wednesday, Sept. 8 Western Addition Branch Library Wednesday, Sept. 22 1550 Scott St. (at Geary) 7 p.m. 6 p.m. (415) 355-5727 7 p.m. Books Inc. Main Library, Latino/Hispanic Excelsior Branch Library Zeitoun, book discussion group Community Meeting Room Zeitoun: A Sad Tale of Civil Liberties Abuse 4400 Mission St. at all Books Inc. stores: (415) 557-4277 A panel discussion with Julia Mass of the ACLU and others (415) 355-2834 Wednesday, Sept. 15 (speakers TBD) discuss the civil liberty issues in Zeitoun as Excelsior Arts & Culture Salon: Opera Plaza, S.F. 601 Van Ness 7 p.m. well as parallels with the Japanese during World War II Dark Water Rising and other civil liberty issues today. (415) 776-1111 Excelsior Branch Library Film & discussion on the Hurricane Katrina 4400 Mission St. (at Cotter) pet rescue. Over 50,000 dogs and cats Castro, S.F. (415) 355-2834 Tuesday, Sept. 14 were left behind in New Orleans in the 2275 Market St. Wednesday, Sept. 22 12 noon wake of Hurricane Katrina. This film tells (415) 864-6777 6:30 p.m. Green Apple Books the epic tale of America’s first-ever major 506 Clement St. Glen Park Branch Library animal rescue. Marina, S.F. (415) 387-2272 2825 Diamond St. (near Bosworth) 2251 Chestnut St (415) 355-2858 Author reading with Dave Eggers Saturday, Sept. 25 (415) 931-3633 Disaster Preparedness 3:30-5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 21 Berkeley Coalition for Animals Potrero Branch Library 1760 4th St. 12 noon 1616 20th St. (near Connecticut) (510) 525-7777 Do you know how to prepare your Books Inc. pet for a natural disaster? Does I Remember: Collecting Stories of Opera Plaza Mountain View your pet have an earthquake the People You Love and Admire 601 Van Ness Ave. 301 Castro St. emergency kit? Members of the (415) 776-1111 Oral historian Basya Petnick teaches a (650) 428-1234 Disaster Preparedness Coalition Author reading with Dave Eggers workshop on collecting oral histories in for Animals presents a workshop your family and community. Topics include Palo Alto on how to prepare and take care what is oral history? What kind of stories Town & Country Village of your pet during a disaster. Tuesday, Sept. 21 do you want to collect? What is the best (650) 321-0600 6 p.m. way to preserve them and share them? Main Library, Koret Auditorium Alameda (415) 557-4277 Wednesday, Sept. 29 1344 Park St. A Village Called Versailles 6:30-7:30 p.m. (510) 522-2226 Mission Bay Branch Library Film & discussion on Hurricane Katrina. This film tells the Books Inc. will donate 15% incredible story of a little known, tight knit New Orleans 960 Fourth St. (415) 355-2838 of the book price for the community in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. A panel books sold in September and Zeitoun book discussion group discussion follows the film. October to the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library.

4 For updated event information visit sfpl.org/OneCityOneBook or call (415) 557-4277. We’re on Facebook and Twitter too! 5 ONE CITY ONE BOOK October Thursday, Oct. 14 Tuesday, Oct. 5 Tuesday, Oct. 12 6 p.m. 12:30 p.m. Reception: 7 p.m. Main Library, Koret Auditorium Book Passage: Ferry Building Program: 8 p.m. Dave Eggers 1 Ferry Plaza Modern Times Books in conversation with Beth Lisick (415) 835-1020 888 Valencia St. Author Talk with Dave Eggers (415) 282-9246 Join us for an insightful discussion between Dave Eggers and author Beth Lisick. Q&A and a book Dave Eggers & Jordan Flaherty, signing with Dave Eggers and Beth Lisick follows. author of Floodlines, in conversation Tuesday, Oct. 5 Book sale by Book Bay. 6 p.m. Main Library, Koret Auditorium Tuesday, Oct. 12 Discover Jazz: From Jelly Roll to 6:30 p.m. Main Library, Latino/Hispanic the Modern New Orleans Groove Community Meeting Room Saturday, Oct. 16 Join us when Cory Combs, Director of Education Frommer’s Travel to for SF Jazz presents a jazz history of New Orleans. 2:30 p.m. Special performance by Dee Spencer. Sponsored New Orleans Chinatown Branch Library by SF Jazz. Frommer's travel author, Diana Schwam, 1135 Powell St. (near Jackson) discusses the best places to stay, dine (415) 355-2888 and listen to jazz in New Orleans. A book Thursday, Oct. 7 Disaster Planning Sunday, Oct. 17 sale by Book Bay follows the event. 6 p.m. with the Red Cross 1:30 p.m. Main Library, Latino Hispanic Community Meeting Room Mechanics Institute Library Learn how to prepare an 57 Post St. earthquake survival kit and I Remember: Collecting Stories (415) 393-0114 other helpful information of the People You Love and Admire Zeitoun book discussion group for disaster planning. In Cantonese Oral historian Basya Petnick teaches a workshop on collecting oral histories among families and communities. Thursday Large Screen Videos Topics include what is oral history? What kind of stories do you want to collect? What is the best way to preserve 12 noon them? What is the best way to share them? Main Library, Koret Auditorium One City Four Films: Hurricane Katrina Wednesday, Oct. 20 Oct. 7: Dark Water Rising 12-1 p.m. Oct. 14: When the Levees Broke, Acts I & II University of San Francisco Center for Pacific Rim Oct. 21: When the Levees Broke, Acts III & IV Gleeson Library - Seminar Room 209 Oct. 28: Hurricane Katrina: The Storm That Drowned a City Book club discussion of Zeitoun. (episode of PBS’s series NOVA) Everyone welcome, (415) 422-2236

6 For updated event information visit sfpl.org/OneCityOneBook or call (415) 557-4277. We’re on Facebook and Twitter too! 7 READ & DISCUSS ZEITOUN One City One Book Discussion Questions for animals and people trapped by the flood. seem to be the result of post- How does Zeitoun feel about what he is traumatic stress. What was 1. “Notes About This Book” (xv) gives a sense of how the book was written, doing? How does he think about these days the most traumatic part of her whose point of view it reflects, and Eggers’s efforts at accuracy and truth in after he has been imprisoned (262-64)? experience, and why (319)? his depiction of events. By choosing to portray the response to the hurricane through its effects on one family, what kind of story (or history) does he achieve? 7. Discuss what happens when Zeitoun and the 11. Given that the other men others are forced to get into the boat and are who were imprisoned with 2. The book opens with “Friday, August 26,” an expository chapter that introduces taken into custody. Is it clear why they are being Zeitoun were held much us to Zeitoun’s family life and his business life, the two very interconnected. What arrested? What assumptions are made about longer than he was, and that are some of the ways in which the descriptions here draw you in as a reader, and Zeitoun and the other three men (275-87)? Nasser lost his life savings, is make these people and their situation real? Why is the timeline a good structural it surprising that these men choice for this story? 8. Part IV (203-90) tells the story of Zeitoun’s were not compensated in any imprisonment. Here we learn in great detail way for their time in prison 3. Kathy has grown up as a 4. Do Abdulrahman, Kathy and their children how Zeitoun is denied the right to call Kathy, (320-21)? Southern Baptist. Drawn to make up an unusual American family, or not? how his injured foot is not attended to, how Islam through her childhood How would you describe the relationship the other men are beaten, stripped, and 12. What is Zeitoun’s feeling friend Yuko, she decides to between Zeitoun and Kathy, in marriage and in starved, how he prays constantly, yet loses now about what happened? convert. Why, when she business? What effect does their religion have hope. What is the impact, as you read, of this How does he move forward comes to visit wearing her on the way others in the community see them? narrative? into the future, as expressed hijab, does her mother tell in the book’s closing pages her, “Now you can take that 5. Why has Eggers woven into the story 9. “Zeitoun is a more powerful indictment of (322-25)? thing off” (57)? Why does accounts of Zeitoun’s past in Syria, his America’s dystopia in the Bush era than any the prayer from the Qur’an upbringing, his brother Mohammed, the number of well-written polemics” (Timothy quoted on page 51 have a champion swimmer, his brother Ahmad, and Egan, New York Times, August 13, 2009). their close bond? What effect does this frame- Would you agree with this statement? Can strong effect on her? What Unless otherwise stated, this does her reaction to the work of family have on your perception of Zeitoun be read as a contribution to the discussion guide is reprinted evangelical preacher who Zeitoun’s character, his ethics, his behavior? history of hurricane Katrina and the failure of with the permission of Vintage. mocks Islam and says that government to handle the disaster effectively? Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually Kathy’s temptation to convert 6. The plight of the neighborhood’s abandoned the trade paperback version, was the work of the devil dogs comes to Zeitoun’s attention as “a bewil- 10. Discuss Kathy’s situation, and her actions and may vary in other editions. (65-66), say about Kathy’s derment, an anger in their cries that cut the once she learns where Zeitoun is. The after- character and intelligence? night into shards” (93). The next day, he sets math is more difficult, and she still suffers from out in the canoe and tries to do what he can physical and psychological problems that

8 For updated event information visit sfpl.org/OneCityOneBook or call (415) 557-4277. We’re on Facebook and Twitter too! 9 WANT TO GET INVOLVED? SUGGESTED READING The Zeitoun Foundation If you enjoyed Zeitoun, you might also like these books:

The Zeitoun Foundation was created in 2009 to aid in the rebuilding of and The Great Deluge: Hurricane ongoing health of the city of New Orleans, and to help ensure the human rights Katrina, New Orleans, and The Executioner’s Song of all Americans. Beginning in the fall of 2009, the Zeitoun Foundation began the Mississippi Gulf Coast by Norman Mailer to distribute funds garnered from the sale of Zeitoun, a book written by Dave by Douglas Brinkley Eggers about the life of Abdulrahman and Kathy Zeitoun and their trials and tribulations after Hurricane Katrina. The Zeitoun Foundation is honored to have A.D.: New Orleans given more than $220,000 in grants so far. In Cold Blood After the Deluge zeitounfoundation.org by Truman Capote by Josh Neufeld

Come Hell or Nonprofit groups that have received grants: Voices from the Storm High Water Voice of Witness by Lola Vollen and Chris Ying, eds. Islamic Relief USA by Michael Eric Dyson The Porch New Orleans Center for Meena Magazine Creative Arts Innocence Project NOLA The New Orleans Institute Muslim American Society The Neighborhood Story Project The Emperor Rebuilding Together Catholic Charities by Ryszard Kapuscinski The Green Project Muslim Student Association Louisiana Capital Assistance Center The Wesley United New Orleans Lens The Jeremiah Group You may also enjoy these films:

When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts Zeitoun by Dave Eggers has been honored by: by Spike Lee The Muslim Public Affairs Council The Council on American-Islamic Relations The Arab Cultural Community Center Trouble the Water Dark Water Rising The Arab American Institute by Tia Lessin and Carl Deal by Mike Shiley

10 For updated event information visit sfpl.org/OneCityOneBook or call (415) 557-4277. We’re on Facebook and Twitter too! 11 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 2010 Selection Committee

Calvin Crosby Books, Inc. Community Relations Director

Kathi Kamen Goldmark West Coast Live/Book Group Expo

Jewelle Gomez President, San Francisco Public Library Commission

Hut Landon Northern California Independent Booksellers Association

Laura Lent Collection Development Manager, SFPL

Rosie Levy Merlin Program Outreach Librarian, SFPL

Marcia Schneider (chair) Chief of Communications, Collections and Adult Services, SFPL

Kevin Smokler Co-founder/Chief Evangelist for BookTour.com & editor of Bookmark Now

Oscar Villalon Freelance Book critic

12 For updated event information visit sfpl.org/OneCityOneBook SUPPORTERS

Many thanks to the following organizations for supporting One City One Book: San Francisco Reads

Media Sponsors

Bookstore Partners

Program Partners

or call (415) 557-4277. We’re on Facebook and Twitter too! Printed on recycled paper using soy-based ink.