Khaled Hosseini, the best-selling author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, knows he’s led a charmed life compared to what might have been.
The 48-year-old native of Afghanistan moved to the United States as a teenager when political turmoil made it impossible for his family to return to his homeland. Hosseini’s just-published third novel, And the Mountains Echoed, centers on the same subject matter as the first two: everyday Afghan families altered by circumstances often out of their control. “The only reason I’m not where they are is just pure luck,” Hosseini said in a recent New York Times interview. “It’s an unmerited gift to have this life. My books became successful way beyond any reasonable expectation and were about those people on the streets. I felt that in some way I had profited from their wretchedness.”
Hosseini discusses his latest novel 7 p.m. at the main branch of the Cincinnati Public Library. Free, but you must have purchased a copy of And the Mountains Echoed from Joseph-Beth to stand in the book signing line. Cincinnati Public Library, main branch, 800 Vine St., Downtown, 513-396-8960, cincinnatilibrary.org.
