after us, the deluge...

So I've been home a lot, trying to deal with this head of mine. I've been watching a lot of tv. I thought it might be kinder on my eyes. But, today I decided no more. Just books. I'll just stop if it is too much of a strain. With this in mind I sat down and finished reading the book that has been taunting me from my bedside table for at least 2 weeks. Zeitoun by Dave Eggers. The first time I saw this book I thought it was fiction and promptly ignored it. But then it caught some buzz, the good kind not the annoying kind and so I picked it up. It's a true story of a man who stays in New Orleans during Katrina and after. He is a builder and landlord and wants to be able to save things in his house and keep an eye on his properties and friends' houses. He has a canoe and he uses it to row around and help people get to safety and feed dogs left behind by their masters. His family left before the storm so he keeps them apprised of what is going on. At first you get his quiet version of what is happening and his wife's tv-fed comprehension of the horror of the sitch. So I am reading it and thinking what a cool story and how interesting and awful when BAM something happens that is just a mind blowingly sad and horrifying comment on the state of our fuckedupedness as a country (I know I know, you are as Canadian as Celine Dion). Anyhoo, I cried and I felt like I got a more useful idea of part of the experience of New Orleans after Katrina. This was a great read. Could've used a little editing in parts but I liked.