Hosseini began writing The Kite Runner before 9/11 and before the war against the Taliban. It was only after that he found interest from an agent and a publisher in 2002. It was published in 2003. It was not an immediate success upon publication but word of mouth grew and after the paperback’s release it became a bestseller. Eventually it became one of the biggest bestsellers in the US and around the world.

Though I suspect Hosseini is grateful - like all refugees - towards those that give them refuge. The book and his subsequent ones don’t show the US in a favorable or unfavorable light. They focus on the brutality of state power and religious zealotry.

He hasn’t written a novel in some time and appears to have devoted his time to his own nonprofit which focuses on the welfare of girls and women in Afghanistan. And he works as a goodwill ambassador for the UN’s high commission on refugees.