“Once, when I was little, I asked her if she’d cried when my father had fallen to his death.At the funeral? I mean, the burial?No, I did not.Because you weren’t sad?Because it was nobody’s business if I was.”

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.