But if you have a book that needs urgent reading,' she said, 'then Hakim is your man.

Your job today is to pass gas. You do that and we can start feeding you liquids. No fart, no food.

Quiet is turning down the volume knob on life.

So, then. You want a story and I will tell you one.

It's wrong what they say about the past, I've learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out.

We will also be funding projects that empower women and children in Afghanistan and now and then give scholarships to Afghan students here in the Bay Area.

The bulk of our efforts [in The Khaled Hosseini Foundation] has focused on helping build permanent shelters for returning refugees who are homeless, living out in the open or in makeshift homes. This is an area of urgent need as Afghanistan's natural elements are quite harsh, with very hot summers, and freezing winters.