Dave Egger's 2009 book Zeitoun describes the experiences of Abdulrahman Zeitoun, a New Orleans man who canoed around his neighborhood post-Katrina, helping his neighbors, until his wrongful imprisonment and lengthy detention. Now The New York Times is reporting that Abdulrahman Zeitoun has just been arrested for soliciting the murders of his ex-wife Kathy, her son, and another man. These charges follow a recent imprisonment "on charges that he attacked Ms. Zeitoun with a tire iron, punching and choking her in public until a witness stopped him. "

Few contemporary writers inspire schadenfreude like Dave Eggers does, but I can't see anyone taking any satisfaction from this. I wonder if Eggers still would've written his book, knowing that Zeitoun's life would take this sort of a turn? It definitely undermines his post-Katrina heroics, but it's also a pretty good reminder that life, and people, can be pretty fucking complicated.