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More copies of this ISBN:The Bookseller of Kabulby Asne Seierstad
Staff Pick
In this remarkable portrait, Norwegian journalist Åsne Seierstad recounts with brutal honesty the day to day lives of one Afghani family persevering through life in a country beset by chaos. With the assent of the Khan family with whom she lives, Seierstad gives us intimate access to a world were women have few privileges, and where an attitude of hope seems uncommonly rare. Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:In Afghanistan, just after the fall of the Taliban, a bookseller named Sultan Khan allowed a western journalist to move into his home and experience firsthand his family's life in the newly liberated capital city of Kabul.
From that act of openness emerges this remarkable book, already an international bestseller-the most intimate look yet at ordinary life for those who have weathered Afghanistan's extraordinary upheavals. One husband, two wives, five children, and many other relatives sharing four small rooms opened up their lives, unforgettably. First is Sultan himself, a man whose love of books has exposed him to great risks over his thirty years in the trade. He has seen his volumes censored, ripped apart, even burned in the street by the Communists and the Taliban. Each time he rebuilt his business, hiding the most controversial texts, surviving prison, traveling treacherous back roads to Pakistan to order much-needed schoolbooks. He takes joy in selling books of history, science, art, religion, and poetry, and defends his business against competitors and theft with a primal ferocity. But Sultan is also a committed Muslim with strict views on filial respect and the role of women. We meet his wife, Sharifa, when she learns that Sultan is taking a new bride, as his status in the community dictates. Despite custom, it is agonizing for the mother of Sultan's children to see her place usurped. We follow their teenage son, Mansur, as he embarks on his first religious pilgrimage, which embodies all the excitement of youth's first rebellion. And we see Sultan's younger sisters, as one coquettishly prepares for her wedding while another seeks a job to escape her family's tight grip. Stepping back from the page, award-winning journalist Asne Seierstad allows the Khans to speak for themselves about their joys, sorrows, rivalries, loves, dreams, and temptations. Through this close-knit household, we gain an intimate view — as few outsiders have seen it — of life in an Islamic country just beginning to find its way between the forces of modernity and tradition. Review:"[A]n astounding portrait....Seierstad's visceral account is equally seductive and repulsive...An international bestseller, it will likely stand as one of the best books of reportage of Afghan life after the fall of the Taliban." Publishers Weekly Review:"A slice of Afghanistan today, rendered with a talent for fine, sobering prose and strange, unnerving settings." Kirkus Reviews Review:"Seierstad does have considerable descriptive powers, making The Bookseller of Kabul a compelling portrait of a country at a crossroads." Boston Globe Review:"With a fine eye for detail, Seierstad shows how Afghan women's powerlessness is enforced in ways large and small." Washington Post Review:"[A] stunning indictment of Afghanistan's treatment of its women....Seierstad's voice is impassioned and her prose clear, direct and unflinching." Providence Journal Synopsis:Invited to live with a Kabul bookseller and his family for several months, an award-winning journalist now gives readers a first-hand look at Afghani life as few outsiders have seen it. About the AuthorSeierstad has received numerous awards for her journalism and has reported from such war-torn regions as Chechnya, the Balkans, Afghanistan, and Iraq. She is fluent in five languages. What Our Readers Are SayingAdd a comment for a chance to win!
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