Dave Eggers, Michael Chabon and Jonathan Safran Foer, three of America's most feted contemporary novelists, are each releasing a non-fiction book this month, cementing a trend that's been gathering momentum over the past decade. While travelogues and biographies have been a literary staple for centuries, popular science, history and current-affairs books have only really exploded as bestsellers during the Noughties. The fact that this trio of ultra-hip, prize-winning authors is getting involved proves that factual books about contemporary issues can be both entertaining enough to read on the beach, and stuffed with literary merit. And they might even make a case for changing the way you live.
Although Eggers has been concentrating on fiction recently (his superhuman schedule has recently included two screenplays, Where the Wild Things are and Away We Go, both released in 2009), writing about real life isn't new to him. His debut, the Pulitzer-shortlisted A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, combined his memories with stylised flights of fancy, and his 2006 novel What Is the What drew heavily on the experiences of the Sudanese refugee Valentino Achak Deng.
Zeitoun, which is published on March 25, is the first sustained piece of non-fiction Eggers has penned solo since A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius (in the meantime he has co-authored books on teaching and on Americans wrongfully convicted of crime). It tells the story of Kathy and Abdulrahman Zeitoun, a married couple with four kids, who run a building and repairs company in New Orleans. (Because of his unwieldy first name, Abdulrahman is known to friends and neighbours simply as Zeitoun.) While Kathy and the children flee the city as Hurricane Katrina looms, Zeitoun stays to look after their family home and ends up camping on the roof, paddling around on a canoe to help stranded survivors.
But as looting and lawlessness break out, the Syrian-born, Muslim family man becomes a target for overzealous policing, and miscarriages of justice mount up to wreak disaster on him.
Like Chabon's and Safran Foer's books, Zeitoun is written with a lightness of touch that belies its heavy subject matter. Eggers writes from the alternating perspectives of Kathy and Zeitoun, adding details about their dreams, the smells of their daughters' bedrooms and detailed dialogue in a way that's more novelistic than journalistic. The structure, too, is borrowed from fiction: Zeitoun's Syrian boyhood is recalled in a series of flashbacks, while the rest of the book's events are told chronologically, from the day the hurricane hit to the months following it.
Eggers's prose is simple, straightforward and characteristically upbeat, but as the book nears its end, a moral message emerges about the dangers of police profiling, human rights abuses relating to terror suspects in the United States and the government's disorganised response to the disaster. Images of the overcrowded and chaotic Superdome stadium are familiar from news reports, but by introducing a hardworking American family and telling their story, Zeitoun prompts readers to see these issues from a fresh perspective. Proceeds from the book are being allocated to the Zeitoun Foundation, which funds rebuilding schemes in New Orleans as well as projects promoting human rights.
In this way, telling stories becomes a form of activism for Eggers; Safran Foer pulls off the same trick in Eating Animals (which was released in the UK on Thursday), his first work of nonfiction. Safran Foer is best known for the award-winning Everything Is Illuminated, which was turned into a movie starring Elijah Wood in 2005, and was followed by the post-September-11 story Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.
Eating Animals tells the story of the author's commitment to vegetarianism on becoming a father, after a lifetime of see-sawing between eating and avoiding meat. During the course of the book, he combines his family history with accounts of breaking into a factory farm, well-researched facts and figures, philosophical thought experiments and his changing feelings on the emotional, social and ethical aspects of eating.
He kicks off by talking the reader through an inconsistency in the way that most people treat animals, pointing out that most omnivores irrationally put the rights of some animals over others. He gives the example of hot dogs being sold outside the enclosure of the world-famous polar bear cub Knut. If we gave our habits more thought, he says, we'd be as horrified by the idea of scoffing hot dogs as we would be at the idea of feasting on the cute little cub.
There are many reasons Safran Foer gives for why we should feel this horror. Many will be familiar: animal agriculture is the primary cause of climate change, making a 40 per cent greater contribution to global warming than all transport combined; factory farms are barbaric, unsanitary and wasteful; fishing methods are inefficient (for each pound of shrimp eaten, 26 pounds of additional fish are killed as "bycatch"), and so on.
As one might expect, there's the odd stomach-turning description of animal cruelty. Testimonials from slaughterhouse workers are particularly vivid, but Safran Foer doesn't try to shock his readers into submission. Combining research from journals and books with illicit midnight farm visits, interviews with farmers and other agriculture workers, and his personal experiences, he unsentimentally pieces together an argument for vegetarianism that's hard to refute.
To those who suggest that one person's actions don't make a difference, he reminds us that individuals have helped change the world by doing things as simple as refusing to switch seats on a bus. "Compassion is a muscle that gets stronger with use," he argues, "and the regular exercise of choosing kindness over cruelty would change us."
Alongside these two books - one advocating greater protection for human rights, the other campaigning for better animal welfare - Chabon's Manhood for Amateurs, which was released on Thursday, seems to be a more personal, less political read. Subtitled "the pleasures and regrets of a husband, father and son", it's a series of essays on topics including Chabon's love for comics and baseball, his attempts to be a better father, his love for his wife, has relationships with parents and friends, the future of the human race, Barack Obama and his man-purse (or "murse").
It might seem that the appeal of this sort of quirky memoir would only extend as far as hard-core Chabon fans dying to know the man behind the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Wonder Boys and the rest. But Chabon is a dazzling writer, and while the subject matter is limited to his experiences, arguments are made and conclusions reached that are much broader in their scope.
In analysing how boys and men are expected to act, for instance, he makes a case for reconsidering attitudes towards gender: he talks of "the subtle damage that is done repeatedly to boys who grow up learning from their fathers and the men around them the tragic lesson that failure is not a human constant but a kind of aberration of gender, a flaw in a man, to be concealed".
He also speaks with pride of learning to cook as a small boy, and of buying himself a purse (not the manliest of accessories), while criticising superhero comics for forcing female characters into weak roles such as Invisible Girl and Shrinking Violet.
Another theme that runs throughout Manhood for Amateurs - and much of Chabon's work - is the vital need for imaginative escape. As he writes about his childhood compared to that of his children, he worries that overprotected kids growing up today aren't given enough space to carve out their own world.
"Art is a form of exploration," he says, "of sailing off into the unknown alone, heading for those unmarked places on the map. If children are not permitted - not taught - to be adventurers and explorers as children, what will become of the world of adventure, of stories, of literature itself?"
The benefit of art and pop culture, as he sees it, isn't just that they provide a healthy respite from the real world, it's that they also help us be better people. They "increase our sense of shared experience, of shared suffering, rapture, nostalgia, or disgust with our fellow humans, whose thoughts and emotions are otherwise locked away".
To feel compassion, in other words, we need the imagination to put ourselves in another's shoes, which makes Eggers and Safran Foer, as well as Chabon, excellent candidates for championing causes we might otherwise forget. Escapism is always tempting in a recession, and it can do some good, but it's heartening that these storytellers are wrestling with important real-life issues, too. Let's just hope none of them abandons fiction for good.
Factfile on Garbine Muguruza:
Name: Garbine Muguruza (ESP)
World ranking: 15 (will rise to 5 on Monday)
Date of birth: October 8, 1993
Place of birth: Caracas, Venezuela
Place of residence: Geneva, Switzerland
Height: 6ft (1.82m)
Career singles titles: 4
Grand Slam titles: 2 (French Open 2016, Wimbledon 2017)
Career prize money: $13,928,719
Buy farm-fresh food
The UAE is stepping up its game when it comes to platforms for local farms to show off and sell their produce.
In Dubai, visit Emirati Farmers Souq at The Pointe every Saturday from 8am to 2pm, which has produce from Al Ammar Farm, Omar Al Katri Farm, Hikarivege Vegetables, Rashed Farms and Al Khaleej Honey Trading, among others.
In Sharjah, the Aljada residential community will launch a new outdoor farmers’ market every Friday starting this weekend. Manbat will be held from 3pm to 8pm, and will host 30 farmers, local home-grown entrepreneurs and food stalls from the teams behind Badia Farms; Emirates Hydroponics Farms; Modern Organic Farm; Revolution Real; Astraea Farms; and Al Khaleej Food.
In Abu Dhabi, order farm produce from Food Crowd, an online grocery platform that supplies fresh and organic ingredients directly from farms such as Emirates Bio Farm, TFC, Armela Farms and mother company Al Dahra.
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Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
The specs
Price: From Dh529,000
Engine: 5-litre V8
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Power: 520hp
Torque: 625Nm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.8L/100km
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
CRICKET%20WORLD%20CUP%20QUALIFIER%2C%20ZIMBABWE%20
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Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
PRISCILLA
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How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
India Test squad
Virat Kohli (c), Mayank Agarwal, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Shubman Gill
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
INFO
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Sheer grandeur
The Owo building is 14 storeys high, seven of which are below ground, with the 30,000 square feet of amenities located subterranean, including a 16-seat private cinema, seven lounges, a gym, games room, treatment suites and bicycle storage.
A clear distinction between the residences and the Raffles hotel with the amenities operated separately.
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
World Cricket League Division 2
In Windhoek, Namibia - Top two teams qualify for the World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe, which starts on March 4.
UAE fixtures
Thursday, February 8 v Kenya; Friday, February 9 v Canada; Sunday, February 11 v Nepal; Monday, February 12 v Oman; Wednesday, February 14 v Namibia; Thursday, February 15 final
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UAE v United States, T20 International Series
Both matches at ICC Academy, Dubai. Admission is free.
1st match: Friday, 2pm
2nd match: Saturday, 2pm
UAE squad: Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Shaiman Anwar, Rameez Shahzad, Amjad Gul, CP Rizwan, Mohammed Boota, Abdul Shakoor, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Sultan Ahmed, Zahoor Khan, Amir Hayat
USA squad: Saurabh Netravalkar (captain), Jaskaran Malhotra, Elmore Hutchinson, Aaron Jones, Nosthush Kenjige, Ali Khan, Jannisar Khan, Xavier Marshall, Monank Patel, Timil Patel, Roy Silva, Jessy Singh, Steven Taylor, Hayden Walsh
GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
Dubai Rugby Sevens, December 5 -7
World Sevens Series Pools
A – Fiji, France, Argentina, Japan
B – United States, Australia, Scotland, Ireland
C – New Zealand, Samoa, Canada, Wales
D – South Africa, England, Spain, Kenya
Mountain%20Boy
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Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
MATCH INFO
Barcelona 2
Suarez (10'), Messi (52')
Real Madrid 2
Ronaldo (14'), Bale (72')
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
