KHALED HOSSEINI (Original Book Author) was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1965. In 1980, after the Soviet invasion of his birthplace, Hosseini and his family were granted political asylum in the U.S. He studied medicine and practiced as a physician in California until 2004, after which he dedicated himself to writing. He is the author of The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns, and other books. He has served as a goodwill ambassador for UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, since 2006. In 2008, he launched The Khaled Hosseini Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, which provides humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan. He lives in California.