ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Khaled Hosseini was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1965. His father was a diplomat with the Afghan Foreign Ministry, and his mother taught Farsi and History at a high school in Kabul. In 1976, Khaled moved to Paris with his family. They lived there for four years and instead of returning to a violent Afghanistan under Soviet control, sought political asylum in the United States in 1980.

Since the Hosseini family lost all their property in Afghanistan, they lived on walfare and food stamps for a short time when they first arrived in San Jose, California. Khaled's father worked several job to get his family off of welfare and provided Khaled with educational opportunities.

Khaled graduated from high school in 1984 and earned his bachelor's degree in Biology from Santa Clara University in 1988. He continued his education at the University of California at San Diego, earning his Medical Degree in 1993.

Khaled was a practicing medical intern of internal medicine at the Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles when he completed his first novel, The Kite Runner. This novel is semi-autobiographical; however, the story of Amir and Hassan is completely fictional.

Khaled has published a second novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, and is known for being the first Afghan author to have his work published in English.

Awards
The Kite Runner has become an international bestseller, published in 38 countries. It has won the following awards and recognitions: Book Sense Bestseller List Sensation Boeke Prize Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers Award ALA Notable Book Alex Award Borders Original Voices Award 2003 Entertainment Weekly's Best Book 2003 San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year 2003 Literature to Life Award

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