Thank you so much for sharing all this with us. What a fun and interesting evening you must have had and I'm envious. I wish one of my book clubs could do something like that. We also read the Kite Runner,one of my favorite books of last year and I'm sure Mr. Hosseini had a lot to say.

Oh I am so envious. What a great idea to combine some cultural awareness with a author/speaker! So, what did he have to say? Has he been back to Afghanistan? Any comments about the current situation? And does he have another book in the works?

Cindy,

Hosseini mostly talked about why he got into writing, and why (because he has to, it's not a choice, it's a passion) and how he views his life as a writer vs. his life as a doctor (he practices medicine with Kaiser in Northern California.)

He says writing to him is like two high school lovers marrying and living a long beautiful life together.

Being a doctor is more like an arranged marriage, the love develops slow and steady.

When his family moved to America in 1980, he was just 15 and even then his passion for writing was there. His mother, father and siblings all settled in San Jose, CA and none of them had a job or spoke much English. He felt it was not in his best interest to mention he wanted to be a writer since the family needed to be fed. He thought if lots of different directions he could take in his life, many of which could result in being homeless. He then realized he's never known a homeless doctor and pursued medicine as a career.

Hosseini is a wonderful speaker (much better than I am a writer). He's poised, humble and approachable. I would recommend everyone go see him speak if they have the chance.

Jodi-

>He then realized he's never known a homeless doctor and pursued medicine as a career.

Hee, smart boy! Thanks for that. I hope he comes down here to read. His book is certainly popular with the local bookgroups.

No word on a new book?

He did not mention the new book Cindy. We were hoping he would have it for sale at the event but only The Kite Runner (signed) was being offered.

Jodi-

The San Jose Mercury News featured an article on Hosseini recently (dated 2/19, "Afghan youth became S.J. doctor, then literary star")

In it, he mentions how instrumental his wife, Roya, has been in reviewing and editing his work. He also describes his work-in-progress as a book about "...the intertwining lives of two Afghan women, one from the country, the other from the city. `It's set entirely in Afghanistan and starts in the mid-'50s and stops at 9/11,' he says."

Re the movie version of The Kite Runner, the article says:

"As for the ``Kite Runner'' movie, that will be shot by director Marc Forster (``Monster's Ball''), who has scouted locations in Fremont, where some of the book takes place. ``I saw a first draft of the script, which was pretty faithful to the book,'' reports the author."

Finally, a companion piece ran after this article where Hosseini mentions some books that have inspired him. Those books were:

"Not surprisingly, Khaled Hosseini is a voracious reader. It's healthy to be influenced by other writers, he says. ``It helps you evolve.'' Most recently, he has derived inspiration from the following:"

``Life of Pi'' by Yann Martel. ``A wonderful story, full of amazing imagery, about a 16-year-old boy who's adrift in a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger.''

``Middlesex: A Novel'' by Jeffrey Eugenides. ``The story of three generations of Greeks told by an hermaphrodite. It's an immigrant story very much like my own; that's why it resonated.''

``Atonement'' by Ian McEwan. ``People kept telling me, `You should read this book.' There are strange parallels between it and `The Kite Runner,' especially the idea of the upper class betraying a lower-class member of the household. Like all of McEwan's books, the prose is so precise, and there's an amazing knockout ending.''

``The Dew Breaker'' by Edwidge Danticat. ``A series of interconnected stories that overlap in unexpected ways. Once you step back, the small human dramas and minor epiphanies add up to something bigger. It's like looking through a kaleidoscope.''

``The Tortilla Curtain'' by T.C. Boyle. ``It's about racism in Los Angeles and how people from different racial and ethnic backgrounds come together. I lived in L.A., and this book really rang true to me.''

(I'd try to do the quotes in italics, but my HTML coding abilities are limited.)

I forgot to mention the movie! Thanks for the reminder. There supposedly were movie scouts at the dinner event but no one approached me for a part so I'm not absolutely positive they were there. LOL

Yes, Hosseini did mention how instrumental his wife is in reading, editing and promoting his works. The Kite Runner was originally a short story that Hosseini wrote during his jobless days. His wife found and read it one day and told him it was wonderful. She then gave it to her father to read who also liked the book but claimed that it ended too soon. All of a sudden Hosseini realized that it was meant to be a novel, not a short story and sat down to finish it.

Jodi-

Jodi, thanks for posting this interesting thread. As I liked the novel, I will look forward to the film of it. It's always intriguing to me to note the books that popular writers admire....

I can see Middlesex being an influence.

> `It's set entirely in Afghanistan and starts in the mid-'50s and stops at 9/11,'

That sounds like it could be a very interesting book, as well as an important one for understanding the history that lead up t0 9/11

I just read that K. Hosseini is coming out with a new book about women in Afghanistan, supposedly to appear in May, 2007. I will be looking for it....

What a wonderful evening you must have had! I heard Khaled Hosseini speak on public radio a while ago and was much impressed with him. I live in a town that borders on San Jose and may well have passed him on the street unknowing.

When we moved to California not quite twenty years ago, I imagined running into all sorts of famous writers and artists as I went about my daily life. When I read author bios at the back of a book, half the time they live in either New York or northern California. And indeed it may have happened, over and over, but I never knew.

My friend who has the kite that Hosseini signed just had a custom acrylic frame box made to house the kite, one of the photos I took, and the Kite Runner cover. It looks great!

Jodi-