“American high school culture was impenetrable to me, and very cliquey: you had the Hispanics, the African Americans, the surfer guys and the goths and the immigrants. The jocks and the surfers got the girls. By the time I'd got to grips with it, I'd graduated.”

Afghan-American novelist of the 21st century, born in Paris. His work explores displacement and human connection through vivid storytelling, most notably with *The Kite Runner* and *A Thousand Splendid Suns*. A physician by training, he channels his experiences into narratives that bridge cultural divides.