Synopsis: Publisher Comments:
An epic tale of fathers and sons, of friendship and betrayal, that takes us from Afghanistan in the final days of the monarchy to the atrocities of the present.

The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father's servant, The Kite Runner is a beautifully crafted novel set in a country that is in the process of being destroyed. It is about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption, and it is also about the power of fathers over sons-their love, their sacrifices, their lies.

The first Afghan novel to be written in English, The Kite Runner tells a sweeping story of family, love, and friendship against a backdrop of history that has not been told in fiction before, bringing to mind the large canvases of the Russian writers of the nineteenth century. But just as it is old-fashioned in its narration, it is contemporary in its subject-the devastating history of Afghanistan over the last thirty years. As emotionally gripping as it is tender, The Kite Runner is an unusual and powerful debut.

Review:
"[A] beautiful novel...ranks among the best-written and provocative stories of the year." The Denver Post

Review:
"Hosseini clearly loves his country as much as he hates what has become of it." Pamela Constable, The Washington Post

Review:
"Hosseini's book is more than a typical coming-of-age story. Rather it is about personal salvation, betrayal, and redemption." Albuquerque Journal

Review:
"Rather than settle for a coming-of-age or travails-of-immigrants story, Hosseini has folded them both into this searing spectacle of hard-won personal salvation. All this, and a rich slice of Afghan culture too: irresistible." Kirkus Reviews

Review:
"Brilliant...both as a political chronicle and a deeply personal tale about how childhood choices affect our adult lives." Publishers Weekly, starred review

Review:
"A wonderful work.... This is one of those unforgettable stories that stay with you for years. All the great themes of literature and of life are the fabric of this extraordinary novel: love, honor, guilt, fear redemption.... It is so powerful that for a long time everything I read after seemed bland." Isabel Allende

Review:
"Stunning...an incisive, perceptive examination of recent Afghan history.... It is rare that a book is at once so timely and of such high literary quality." Publisher's Weekly

Review:
"In The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini gives us a vivid and engaging story that reminds us how long his people have been struggling to triumph over the forces of violence — forces that continue to threaten them even today." New York Times

Review:
"A haunting morality tale." USA Today

Review:
"His passionate story of betrayal and redemption is framed by Afghanistan's tragic recent past.... Rather than settle for a coming-of-age or travails-of-immigrants story, Hosseini has folded them both into this searing spectacle of hard-won personal salvation. All this, and a rich slice of Afghan culture too: irresistible." Kirkus Reviews

Review:
"Like Gone with the Wind, this extraordinary first novel locates the personal struggles of everyday people in the terrible sweep of history." People

Review:
"To many Western readers, [Afghanistan's] can be an exhausting and bewildering history. But Hosseini extrudes it into an intimate account of family and friendship, betrayal and salvation that requires no atlas or translation to engage and enlighten us." Washington Post

Review:
"Hosseini does tenderness and terror, California dream and Kabul nightmare with equal aplomb...a ripping yarn and ethical parable." Globe and Mail

Review:
"A beautiful novel...a song in a new key. Hosseini is an exhilaratingly original writer with a gift for irony and a gentle, perceptive heart...one of the most lyrical, moving and unexpected novels of the year." Denver Post

Review:
"By page seven...I was sold, and hoped only that the book would continue to hold me in the same embrace. And embrace it does — or better said, encompass. Hosseini does tenderness and terror, California dream and Kabul nightmare with equal aplomb." The Globe and Mail

Review:
"Here's a real find: a striking debut from an Afghan now living in the US.... Rather than settle for a coming-of-age or travails-of-immigrants story, Hosseini has folded them both into this searing spectacle of hard-won personal salvation. All this, and a rich slice of Afghan culture too: irresistible." Kirkus

Review:
"[A] passionate story about guilt, honour and forgiveness, enlivened both by its capacity to offer a valuable insider's view into a country much in the news, and by its wisdom about how life is all about the choices we make." Literary Review

Synopsis:
Privileged young narrator Amir comes of age during the last peaceful days of the monarchy in Afghanistan, then must endure revolution, invasion and a country's long struggle to triumph over violent forces.