On August 30^th, 2005, Abdulrahman Zeitoun woke on the second floor of his house in New Orleans to the sound of running water. The flooding of the city by Hurricane Katrina had begun. Water was flowing into his yard, and up around his house. Zeitoun had not been expecting this. He had surveyed the damage from Katrina the day before, and while it was bad, it had seemed no worse than after previous storms. But by that Tuesday, the city’s levees had failed, submerging huge sections of the city.

Dave Eggers’ nonfiction book Zeitoun tells the story of Abdulrahman and his wife Kathy, and what happened to them in the aftermath of Katrina. We learn who they are, how they met, and how they built a business and family together (they have four daughters). Kathy is a convert to Islam, which has alienated her from her family. Zeitoun is a hardworking contractor who went from casual labourer to running his own business. They both believe in family, religion, and a strong work ethic.

The book begins gently, with a scene from Abdulrahman’s childhood in Syria, of him learning to fish for sardines with his older brother Ahmad. Water, it seems, is part of Zeitoun’s heritage. When he first confronts the water filling his house, he can’t help but be “momentarily struck by the beauty of the sight.” In those first days after the storm Zeitoun paddles around in his canoe, giving out supplies, rescuing people stuck in their homes, and feeding abandoned dogs. Kathy had already left with the children to seek refuge at her family’s home in Baton Rouge. She worries about her husband, but he tells her that he is fine, that he is helping others. He feels that perhaps it was destiny that he chose to stay behind.

It is hard to treat Dave Eggers as just a writer. Launched by his post-modern memoir A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Eggers became a kind of literary wunderkind. He had as many detractors as admirers, the former dismissing his memoir as a feat of egotism rather than literary innovation. (Although this reviewer did not fall completely into that category, she did find A.H.W.O.S.G. somewhat exhausting, like a witty dinner guest who has overstayed his welcome.) If Eggers’ critics still harboured any doubts after the skilfully written What is the What, he has shown in Zeitoun that he is more than capable of literary innovation and powerful storytelling.

The buildup of the book is slow but deliberate. In beautifully clear prose, Eggers captures the quiet of the watery city and Zeitoun’s travels through it. We know we are heading toward something terrible, beyond the storm itself. It is not giving away more than the reader can guess to tell you that the story becomes a stark illustration of the follies of the war-on-terror politics that dominated post 9-11 America.  Eggers is careful not to use rhetoric or political language. He does not need to. The literary wunderkind has taken a backseat and let the story tell itself.

Maria Schamis Turner is the editor of carte blanche.