The Kite Runner made quite the splash when it came out. It was a favorite of book clubs and spent 101 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List. Hosseini was born in Kabul, Afghanistan and started his career as a physician. When he was working at a hospital in California in 1999, he heard a news story that the Taliban had banned kite flying in Afghanistan. This struck him as particularly cruel, as he had grown up with the sport as a child in Afghanistan. He penned a short story about two kite-flying boys in Kabul, but both Esquire and The New Yorker rejected it. It wasn't until he rediscovered the manuscript in his garage in 2001 that, at the suggestion of a friend, he expanded it into a novel. Riverhead Books decided to publish it and the rest, as they say, is history. This is the first printing, inscribed by both Khaled and his wife, Roya:
The Kite Runner was also adapted into an award-winning film in 2007, directed by Marc Forster. Here's the trailer:
Didn't think I was interested in this book (I have a bad habit of impulsively shirking commercial hype), but really love the back story here. Once again, a worthy and refreshing post.
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