After looking at multiple reviews of the book, I found many different opinions and criticisms. One reviewer gave this book one star. In his review he explains how Eggers constantly hints at the idea of racism towards Middle Eastern people and it was the reason that Zeitoun was arrested. However there was never any proof of this claim stated within the novel. He blames his abuse on soldiers who have just returned from Iraq, but not one returning soldier was involved with his arrest. He also blames the government for sending a report warning of terrorist activity, but how can we be sure this really happened. Where is the evidence for these claims? The same people who were to blame for his arrest were the ones who called his wife, and the people who cleared his name. Eggers gives a biased description because of Zeitoun's story so we can't be sure what really happened. This definitely changes my view on the novel because before I blindly accepted that he was arrested due to him being Muslim without truly thinking about it.
The next review I read was from a person who gave the book 5 stars. Now they give good reason why they liked the book. It is well written, with great descriptions. They even state "but still makes you feel as if you are there, canoeing along in the streets of New Orleans" (K. Elzers). The book is very well written but other than the fact that it is a good book, deserves to be a best seller, tells the truth about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and brings up light of some of the issues we face in America. However it does not truly go into depth about the novel and why it was so good besides a few facts.
The final review was one that I read in the New York Times. I did not find this review much more than a summary of the book rather than a review of what the reviewer thought Zeitoun was like. The reviewer talked about the book a little bit, however not one sided as the other reviewers had been. He is almost completely biased, but does say some positive words about Zeitoun. Overall though I find the amazon reviews much more interesting, and compelling than this review. They bring up issues that most newspapers would not dare, and they made me think about a lot of things about the book that I would not usually.
