Dr. Bashiri, if I ever want to put a curse in someone, I say, 'May God give you a restaurant.

The problem, of course, was that [he] saw the world in black and white. And he got to decide what was black and what was white. You can't love a person who lives that way without fearing him too. Maybe even hating him a little.

Human behavior is messy and unpredictable and unconcerned with convenient symmetries.

Writing for me is largely about rewriting.

A great deal remains to be done in Afghanistan and the jury is out as to whether the international community has the commitment and the patience to see the rebuilding process through.

I wanted to write about Afghanistan before the Soviet war because that is largely a forgotten period in modern Afghan history.

The desert weed lives on, but the flower of spring blooms and wilts.