"The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini is a novel that was published in 2003. The novel was a New York Times Bestseller for over two years and sold over seven million copies in the United States alone. The novel is set in Kabul, Afghanistan and centers around a young boy named Amir who is friends with a servant boy … [Read more...] about The Kite Runner
Khaled Hosseini
Khaled Hosseini was born in Kabul, Afghanistan on March 4th, 1965. The oldest of five children, Hosseini was the son of a diplomat for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a Persian Language Teacher. Hosseini describes his childhood as being "privileged" because his parents were wealthy. In 1970, the family moved to Iran so that his father could work for the Embassy of Afghanistan and when Hosseini was 11, his family moved to Paris. During this time, the Saur Revolution took place, and the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan took power in his home country. Hosseini's family were not allowed to return to Afghanistan.
They went to the United States to seek political asylum and began living in San Jose, California. At the time, Hosseini was 15 and did not speak English.
In 1984, Hosseini graduated from high school and began attending Santa Clara University from which he graduated with a bachelor's degree in biology. The next year he enrolled in the University of California San Diego School of Medicine where he graduated with an M.D in 1993. Hosseini practiced medicine in California for over a decade until he quit to become a writer.
In 2003, Hosseini's first novel, "The Kite Runner" was published and became a New York Times Bestseller for two years. The novel was later adapted into a movie in which Hosseini had a cameo role. However, the movie received much controversy in Afghanistan for depicting the country in a bad light. The child actors who played the two main characters received death threats and had to be removed from the country. In light of this, Hosseini regrets making the movie.
In 2007, Hosseini released his second novel, "A Thousand Splendid Suns." Also set in Afghanistan, the novel follows two women and deals with many of the same issues as "The Kite Runner," such as Afghanistan's transition into Soviet and then Taliban rule. Hosseini released "And the Mountains Echoed" in 2013, a collection of short stories set in Kabul.
Hosseini currently serves as a Goodwill Envoy for the United Nations. He has started a foundation in his name that works to provide humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan. In 2007, he made a trip back to Afghanistan with the UN. Currently, Hosseini lives in California with his wife, Roya, who is a lawyer and their two children, Haris and Farah.
