30 May / The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini [in AsianWeek]
A resonating, breathtaking first novel that chronicles the relationship of two boys, born and raised in Kabul, Afghanistan – both motherless, both nursed by the same woman and both lives inextricably linked, even in separation.
Review: “New and Notable Books,” AsianWeek, May 30, 2009
Tidbit: Long, long ago in a place not so far away – the Barnes & Noble store in downtown Bethesda, Maryland to be exact – a dear friend and I went to meet an unknown debut writer whose book I swore (because I had been lucky enough to read the galley months before) was going to make publishing history. His publicist in NYC begged me to just go and take some friends. I could only get dear friend Sogand to go. When we got there, our writer was very nervous, and seemed a bit distracted. Back then, he didn’t present very well at all. Of the seven people in his audience, only Sogand and I were not relatives. He probably sold ONE book that night that wasn’t to a relative, and that was to Sogand. He complimented her on her Farsi as he had her write out her name for him before he signed her copy. Since then, Khaled Hosseini has become virtually untouchable. Someday, somehow, we would LOVE to get him to a public program at the Smithsonian APA Program … Sogand and I, of course, would get first dibs on him!
Readers: Adult
Published: 2003