Khaled Hosseini was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, and moved to the United States in 1980. He is the author of the New York Times bestsellers The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns, and And the Mountains Echoed. He is A U.S. Goodwill Envoy to the United Nations Refugee Agency, and the founder of The Khaled Hosseini Foundation, a nonprofit that provides humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan.
“A Thousand Splendid Suns is an ambitious work. Once again the
setting is Afghanistan, but this time [Hosseini] has taken the last
33 years of that country’s tumultuous history of war and oppression
and told it on an intimate scale, through the lives of two
women.”—The New York Times
“Spectacular. . . . Hosseini’s writing makes our hearts ache, our
stomachs clench and our emotions reel. . . . Hosseini mixes the
experiences of these women with imagined scenarios to create a
fascinating microcosm of Afghan family life. He shows us the
interior lives of the anonymous women living beneath
identity-diminishing burqas... Hosseini writes in gorgeous and
stirring language of the natural beauty and colorful cultural
heritage of his native Afghanistan. . . . Hosseini tells this
saddest of stories in achingly beautiful prose through stunningly
heroic characters whose spirits somehow grasp the dimmest rays of
hope.”—USA Today
“Just as good, if not better, than Hosseini’s best-selling first
book, The Kite Runner”—Newsweek
“Compelling”—New York Magazine
“Hosseini revisits Afghanistan for a compelling story that
gives voice to the agonies and hopes of another group of innocents
caught up in a war. . . . Mesmerizing . . . A Thousand
Splendid Suns is the painful, and at times violent, yet
ultimately hopeful story of two women’s inner lives. Hosseini’s
bewitching narrative captures the intimate details of life in a
world where it’s a struggle to survive, skillfully inserting this
human story into the larger backdrop of recent history.”—San
Francisco Chronicle
“Hosseini . . . has followed his debut novel with another work of
strong storytelling and engaging characters. . . . The story pulses
with life. . . . Khaled Hosseini is simply a marvelously moving
storyteller.”—San Jose Mercury News
“Hosseini’s story . . . rings true as a universal story about
victims of cruelty and those who lack the most fundamental of human
rights. . . . Hosseini’s work is uplifting, enlightening,
universal. The author’s love for his characters and for his country
is palpable. In the end, A Thousand Splendid Suns is a
love letter to a country and to a people. It is a celebration of
endurance and survival in the face of unspeakable tragedy. This is
a love song to anyone who has ever had a broken heart and to anyone
who has ever felt powerless and yet still dares to dream. And yes,
Hosseini has done it again.”—Fort Worth Star-Telegram
“The novel is beautifully written with descriptive details that
will haunt you long after you finish reading it.”—Dallas Morning
News
“This [novel] tells the startling story of domestic adversaries who
discover that survival in a horrific world is nearly impossible
without compassion, love and solidarity. . . Hosseini’s prose
. . . can stun a reader with its powerful, haunting
images.”—Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“Absolutely compelling on every level. It’s nearly impossible for a
novel—a work of fantasy and fabrication—to deliver a formidable
blow, a pounding of the senses, a reeling so staggering that we are
convinced the characters and their dilemmas are genuine. Such a
persuasion is particularly difficult when the setting is
Afghanistan, a country and culture many see as too strange for
recognition, for empathy. But that’s what Khaled Hosseini does
again and again with A Thousand Splendid Suns.”—Chicago
Sun-Times
“Hosseini has the storytelling gift . . . [A Thousand
Splendid Suns] offers us the sweep of historic upheavals narrated
with the intimacy of family and village life. . . . What keeps this
novel vivid and compelling are Hosseini’s eye for the textures of
daily life and his ability to portray a full range of human
emotions, from the smoldering rage of an abused wife to the early
flutters of maternal love when a woman discovers she is carrying a
baby. . . . Hosseini’s illuminating book [is] a worthy sequel
to The Kite Runner.”—Los Angeles Times
“Many of us learned much from The Kite Runner. There is
much more to be learned from A Thousand Splendid Suns . .
. a brave, honorable, big-hearted book”—The Washington Post Book
World
“The author’s fans won’t be disappointed with A Thousand
Splendid Suns—if anything, this book shows at even better advantage
Hosseini’s storytelling gifts.”—New York Daily News
“Hosseini has created two enormously winning female characters in
Mariam and Laila, Afghan women born into very different
circumstances but who have the same problems.”—Minneapolis
Star-Tribune
“[Hosseini] is a writer of unique sensitivities. . . . Hosseini
embraces an old-fashioned storytelling unconcerned with literary
hipness, unafraid of sentimentality, unworried about the sort of
Dickensian coincidences that most contemporary American writers
consider off-limits. . . . We are lucky . . . to have a writer of
Hosseini’s storytelling ambitions interpreting his culture and
history for us with another large-hearted novel. . . . Despite the
unjust cruelties of our world, the heroines of A Thousand
Splendid Suns do endure, both on the page and in our
imagination.”—Miami Herald
Afghan-American novelist Hosseini follows up his bestselling The Kite Runner with another searing epic of Afghanistan in turmoil. The story covers three decades of anti-Soviet jihad, civil war and Taliban tyranny through the lives of two women. Mariam is the scorned illegitimate daughter of a wealthy businessman, forced at age 15 into marrying the 40-year-old Rasheed, who grows increasingly brutal as she fails to produce a child. Eighteen later, Rasheed takes another wife, 14-year-old Laila, a smart and spirited girl whose only other options, after her parents are killed by rocket fire, are prostitution or starvation. Against a backdrop of unending war, Mariam and Laila become allies in an asymmetrical battle with Rasheed, whose violent misogyny-There was no cursing, no screaming, no pleading, no surprised yelps, only the systematic business of beating and being beaten-is endorsed by custom and law. Hosseini gives a forceful but nuanced portrait of a patriarchal despotism where women are agonizingly dependent on fathers, husbands and especially sons, the bearing of male children being their sole path to social status. His tale is a powerful, harrowing depiction of Afghanistan, but also a lyrical evocation of the lives and enduring hopes of its resilient characters. (May) Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.
"A Thousand Splendid Suns is an ambitious work. Once again
the setting is Afghanistan, but this time [Hosseini] has taken the
last 33 years of that country's tumultuous history of war and
oppression and told it on an intimate scale, through the lives of
two women."-The New York Times
"Spectacular. . . . Hosseini's writing makes our hearts ache, our
stomachs clench and our emotions reel. . . . Hosseini mixes the
experiences of these women with imagined scenarios to create a
fascinating microcosm of Afghan family life. He shows us the
interior lives of the anonymous women living beneath
identity-diminishing burqas... Hosseini writes in gorgeous and
stirring language of the natural beauty and colorful cultural
heritage of his native Afghanistan. . . . Hosseini tells this
saddest of stories in achingly beautiful prose through stunningly
heroic characters whose spirits somehow grasp the dimmest rays of
hope."-USA Today
"Just as good, if not better, than Hosseini's best-selling
first book, The Kite Runner"-Newsweek
"Compelling"-New York Magazine
"Hosseini revisits Afghanistan for a compelling story that
gives voice to the agonies and hopes of another group of innocents
caught up in a war. . . . Mesmerizing . . . A Thousand Splendid
Suns is the painful, and at times violent, yet ultimately
hopeful story of two women's inner lives. Hosseini's bewitching
narrative captures the intimate details of life in a world where
it's a struggle to survive, skillfully inserting this human story
into the larger backdrop of recent history."-San Francisco
Chronicle
"Hosseini . . . has followed his debut novel with another
work of strong storytelling and engaging characters. . . . The
story pulses with life. . . . Khaled Hosseini is simply a
marvelously moving storyteller."-San Jose Mercury News
"Hosseini's story . . . rings true as a universal story
about victims of cruelty and those who lack the most fundamental of
human rights. . . . Hosseini's work is uplifting, enlightening,
universal. The author's love for his characters and for his country
is palpable. In the end, A Thousand Splendid Suns is a love
letter to a country and to a people. It is a celebration of
endurance and survival in the face of unspeakable tragedy. This is
a love song to anyone who has ever had a broken heart and to anyone
who has ever felt powerless and yet still dares to dream. And yes,
Hosseini has done it again."-Fort Worth Star-Telegram
"The novel is beautifully written with descriptive details
that will haunt you long after you finish reading it."-Dallas
Morning News
"This [novel] tells the startling story of domestic
adversaries who discover that survival in a horrific world is
nearly impossible without compassion, love and solidarity. . .
Hosseini's prose . . . can stun a reader with its powerful,
haunting images."-Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"Absolutely compelling on every level. It's nearly
impossible for a novel-a work of fantasy and fabrication-to deliver
a formidable blow, a pounding of the senses, a reeling so
staggering that we are convinced the characters and their dilemmas
are genuine. Such a persuasion is particularly difficult when the
setting is Afghanistan, a country and culture many see as too
strange for recognition, for empathy. But that's what Khaled
Hosseini does again and again with A Thousand Splendid
Suns."-Chicago Sun-Times
"Hosseini has the storytelling gift . . . [A Thousand
Splendid Suns] offers us the sweep of historic upheavals
narrated with the intimacy of family and village life. . . . What
keeps this novel vivid and compelling are Hosseini's eye for the
textures of daily life and his ability to portray a full range of
human emotions, from the smoldering rage of an abused wife to the
early flutters of maternal love when a woman discovers she is
carrying a baby. . . . Hosseini's illuminating book [is] a worthy
sequel to The Kite Runner."-Los Angeles Times
"Many of us learned much from The Kite Runner.
There is much more to be learned from A Thousand Splendid
Suns . . . a brave, honorable, big-hearted book"-The
Washington Post Book World
"The author's fans won't be disappointed with A Thousand
Splendid Suns-if anything, this book shows at even better
advantage Hosseini's storytelling gifts."-New York Daily
News
"Hosseini has created two enormously winning female
characters in Mariam and Laila, Afghan women born into very
different circumstances but who have the same
problems."-Minneapolis Star-Tribune
"[Hosseini] is a writer of unique sensitivities. . . .
Hosseini embraces an old-fashioned storytelling unconcerned with
literary hipness, unafraid of sentimentality, unworried about the
sort of Dickensian coincidences that most contemporary American
writers consider off-limits. . . . We are lucky . . . to have a
writer of Hosseini's storytelling ambitions interpreting his
culture and history for us with another large-hearted novel. . . .
Despite the unjust cruelties of our world, the heroines of A
Thousand Splendid Suns do endure, both on the page and in our
imagination."-Miami Herald
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