Afghan writer tells record crowd he almost shut book on best seller

Apr. 4--There were times Khaled Hosseini nearly gave up on the book that last night drew 1,500 people to the Stranahan Theater.

Once was after 9/11. He had written about two-thirds of The Kite Runner by then, but after that tragic day, believed Americans would not accept his novel of friendship and redemption set in Afghanistan.

His wife knew better. People will want to know about Afghanistan, she counseled.

Nine months later, a publisher promised his would be the featured book in her firm's June, 2003, lineup. He was ready for fame when it hit the bookstores, but it languished on the shelves.

Another low point was when he flew from his San Jose home to Long Island where a picnic, he had heard, would be attended by 15,000 Afghans. If anyone would purchase his book about a privileged boy and his less privileged friend, it would be them.

For hours, he waited in a hot field with 200 copies of the book and flies circling his head, finally making eight sales before throwing in the towel and heading for the airport.

With an endearing mix of humility and humor, Hosseini, 41, spoke to the largest crowd ever in the 12 years of the Authors! Authors! series, co-sponsored by The Blade and the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library.

There's no way of knowing if this first-time novel would have sold more than 3 million copies had 9/11 never happened. It has been embraced by book clubs, municipal reading programs, and students.

"If this book has even in a small way given Afghanistan a voice, then I'm thrilled," he said.

Hosseini's speech was an artful story, beginning with the day his life flashed before his eyes in 0.5 seconds ("cliches get a bum rap," he said, cribbing from his book). He was driving down the highway in the Chevy Vega he bought when he was an 18-year-old security guard. A tire flew off, causing the car to spin and grind and spin before coming to a rest on the side of the road.

He wove a 20-year history of his homeland with a biography of his family, from 1970s when his educated and well-connected parents enjoyed a life in Kabul filled with interesting friends. "Afghanistan is very religious, very tribal, very conservative, very traditional," he said.

He spoke of their good life in Paris, where his father worked for the foreign service, and his adolescent realization that nothing made him happier than writing. And he discussed the family's 1980 move to California, where his parents took menial jobs to support their five children.

"One of the first things my father did was put up a picture of Ronald Reagan," he said.

He was a new medical student in southern California when he had a free weekend and returned home to a party. Somebody was playing the accordion badly, a poker game was in process, and he met a beautiful, bright young Afghan-American woman who was a law student.

A few days later, he called and proposed to her. It seemed safer, given her father's protectiveness, than asking for a date. She wanted time to think it over, so he telephoned her back in 15 minutes. She agreed, and six weeks later they were married.

After his talk, audience members asked questions, perhaps the most interesting of which was from a teenager who said his class at Clay High School was reading the book but a parent objected to language in it, and it was banned for a short while.

The parent of a Clay student thanked Hosseini "for opening our eyes to what brings people to this country today. It's the same thing that's brought people to this country for centuries."

Hosseini's response brought ringing applause: "Any five minutes of MTV are more harmful than my book," he said.

Contact Tahree Lane at: tlane@theblade.com or 419-724-6075.

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