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Khaled Hosseini
Goodreads Author
Born
in Kabul, Afghanistan March 04, 1965
Website
Genre
Member Since
April 2012
URL
https://www.goodreads.com/khaledhosseini
Hosseini was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1965. In 1970 Hosseini and his family moved to Iran where his father worked for the Embassy of Afghanistan in Tehran. In 1973 Hosseini's family returned to Kabul, and Hosseini's youngest brother was born in July of that year.
In 1976, when Hosseini was 11 years old, Hosseini's father obtained a job in Paris, France, and moved the family there. They were unable to return to Afghanistan because of the Saur Revolution in which the PDPA communist party seized power through a bloody coup in April 1978. Instead, a year after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, in 1980 they sought political asylum in the United States and made their residence in San Jose, California.
Hosseini graduated from Independence HiHosseini was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1965. In 1970 Hosseini and his family moved to Iran where his father worked for the Embassy of Afghanistan in Tehran. In 1973 Hosseini's family returned to Kabul, and Hosseini's youngest brother was born in July of that year.
In 1976, when Hosseini was 11 years old, Hosseini's father obtained a job in Paris, France, and moved the family there. They were unable to return to Afghanistan because of the Saur Revolution in which the PDPA communist party seized power through a bloody coup in April 1978. Instead, a year after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, in 1980 they sought political asylum in the United States and made their residence in San Jose, California.
Hosseini graduated from Independence High School in San Jose in 1984 and enrolled at Santa Clara University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in biology in 1988. The following year, he entered the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, where he earned his M.D. in 1993. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles in 1996. He practiced medicine for over ten years, until a year and a half after the release of The Kite Runner.
Hosseini is currently a Goodwill Envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). He has been working to provide humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan through the Khaled Hosseini Foundation. The concept for the foundation was inspired by the trip to Afghanistan that Hosseini made in 2007 with UNHCR.
He lives in Northern California with his wife, Roya, and their two children (Harris and Farah)....more
Popular Answered Questions
Khaled HosseiniI read daily, Armando, not so much for the benefit of my writing, but because I am addicted to it. There is nothing in the world for me that compares…moreI read daily, Armando, not so much for the benefit of my writing, but because I am addicted to it. There is nothing in the world for me that compares to being lost in a really good novel. That said, reading is an absolute must if you want to write. It is a trite enough thing to say, but very true nonetheless. I cannot understand aspiring writers who email me for advice and freely admit that they read very little. I have learned something from every writer I have ever read. Sometimes I have done so consciously, picking up something about how to frame a scene, or seeing a new possibility with regards to structure, or interesting ways to write dialogue. Other times, I think, my collective reading experience affects my sensibilities and informs me in ways that I am not quite aware of, but in real ways that impact how I approach writing. The short of it is, as an aspiring writer, there is nothing as damaging to your credibility as saying that you don’t like to read.(less)
Khaled HosseiniI read a lot, watched documentaries, spoke to people. I will give you a example, about the writing of A Thousand Splendid Suns. In March of 2003, I we…moreI read a lot, watched documentaries, spoke to people. I will give you a example, about the writing of A Thousand Splendid Suns. In March of 2003, I went back to Kabul for the first time after a twenty-seven year absence. In Kabul, I spoke to traffic cops, NGO workers, teachers, doctors, nurses, bodyguards, women on the street. Everyone had a story to tell. I heard stories about women who had been raped, beaten, imprisoned, humiliated, women who had seen their husbands blown to pieces, seen their kids starve to death. It was then that I saw the devastating effect that anarchy and extremism had had on these women. I saw for myself, for the first time, the enormity of the suffering that these women had endured. And I came away humbled by the fight that these women had in them, by their resilience and their courage.
So though it is true that I have not actually lived in Afghanistan in a very long time, when I sat down to write A Thousand Splendid Suns, early in 2004, I kept hearing those women’s voices in my head, I keep seeing their faces. And so I think that to a large degree, that book was inspired and formed by the collective hardships, struggles, by the collective hopes and dreams of those women I met and spoke to.(less)
So though it is true that I have not actually lived in Afghanistan in a very long time, when I sat down to write A Thousand Splendid Suns, early in 2004, I kept hearing those women’s voices in my head, I keep seeing their faces. And so I think that to a large degree, that book was inspired and formed by the collective hardships, struggles, by the collective hopes and dreams of those women I met and spoke to.(less)
Khaled Hosseini Average rating:4.37
· 5,797,075 ratings · 254,202 reviews ·34 distinct works •Similar authors
 | The Kite Runner 4.36 avg rating — 3,509,463 ratings — published 2003 —566 editions | |
 | A Thousand Splendid Suns 4.46 avg rating — 1,746,414 ratings — published 2007 —387 editions | |
 | And the Mountains Echoed 4.08 avg rating — 406,193 ratings — published 2012 —6 editions | |
 | Sea Prayer 4.11 avg rating — 60,728 ratings — published 2018 —64 editions | |
 | The Kite Runner: Graphic Novel by 4.45 avg rating — 24,024 ratings — published 2011 —31 editions | |
 | The Kite Runner & A Thousand Splendid Suns 4.52 avg rating — 4,935 ratings — published 2008 —12 editions | |
 | And the Mountains Echoed Free Preview 4.29 avg rating — 2,925 ratings —3 editions | |
 | The Complete Khaled Hosseini Box Set 4.61 avg rating — 560 ratings — published 2015 —10 editions | |
 | I cieli di Kabul: Interviste by 3.66 avg rating — 166 ratings — published 2007 | |
 | Les cerfs-volants de Kaboul by 4.63 avg rating — 19 ratings |
Literacy of the Heart
I am pleased to announce that I will be in conversation with poet and teacher Yogacharya Ellen Grace O'Brian on March 29, 2017 at Kepler's Books in Menlo Park at 7:30 pm.
The times we live in require us to develop a "literacy of the heart"- a deeper quality of listening, discerning, and connecting heart to heart and soul to soul. Literature itself, both poetry and prose, plays a timeless role in aRead more of this blog post »
The times we live in require us to develop a "literacy of the heart"- a deeper quality of listening, discerning, and connecting heart to heart and soul to soul. Literature itself, both poetry and prose, plays a timeless role in aRead more of this blog post »
Published onMarch 13, 2017 18:31
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Quotes by Khaled Hosseini (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads.(Learn more)
“But better to get hurt by the truth than comforted with a lie.”
― Khaled Hosseini
― Khaled Hosseini
tags:life
“It may be unfair, but what happens in a few days, sometimes even a single day, can change the course of a whole lifetime...”
― Khaled Hosseini,The Kite Runner
― Khaled Hosseini,The Kite Runner
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thanks for proving my request, its such an honor, i'm eager to read your next book
merhaba.teşekkür ederim arkadaşlık için.
saygılar
I cannot wait to read your new book, 'Sea Prayer', Khaled. I enjoyed your last three.
Thank you sir for ur friendship here on goodreads. I am looking forward for ur books, which are like i am staying in Afghanistan and witnessing the things which i read in ur books.
Dear Mr Hosseini,I have been writing for 34 years but lacked the courage to pen and publish a full length paperback novel. When I read The Kite Runner, I was awestruck at the guileless beauty of your work. I knew that this was the kind of book I wanted to write, a book that touches the core of the heart and stays there like an eternal flame. I just wanted you to know that your writing has been my inspiration and till I could muster up even half that emotion, I kept my words in limbo. They slipped away sometimes as short stories but then the true tale could wait no more. Thank you for the gift of a book that will stay with me forever. I hope you get a chance to read 'Out With Lanterns'.
Best regards,
Alisha Priti Kirpalani
Your touching words were on the list "38 Beautifully Heartbreaking Quotes From Literature" !38. “There are a lot of children in Afghanistan, but little childhood.”
—Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner
Via raherrod789
http://www.buzzfeed.com/staceygrant/i...
I hope you see it :)
Sincere fan of all your beautiful stories
Khaled,We are both bay area physicians and writers. I am a huge fan and admirer of your work. My book, "Behind the Gates of Gomorrah, a Year with the Criminally Insane" is out this week from Simon and Schuster. It's about my first year as a psychiatrist at Napa State Hospital. I had hit a dull patch in the first draft of the ms. I read all three of your books in a week and suddenly everything was clear on how the ms should finish. It did and it sold. Thanks. All my best, Stephen Seager
Wish you a Very Happy birthday! Khaled.Also wish you good health and prosperity always.
Regards
Prasenjit
¡¡Muchas gracias por aceptarme!! Me gusto mucho "Y las montañas hablaron". En cualquier momento, voy a conseguir los dos primeros.
thank you!! looking forward to you next book!!!! they are awesome!!!!
Jul 29, 2021 06:23PM ·flag
Oct 10, 2025 05:12PM ·flag