Riverhead Signs Kite Runner Author To Second Novel

MAIN NEWS HEADLINES
October 26 – November 2, 2006 Edition

Riverhead Signs

Kite Runner Author

To Second Novel

NEW YORK, NY/10/19/06—Khaled Hosseini, author of the internationally acclaimed #1 New York Times bestseller, The Kite Runner, returns with a highly anticipated new novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, which will be published by Riverhead Books on May 22, 2007, it was announced today by Geoffrey Kloske, Vice President, Publisher, Riverhead Books. The book is being edited by Sarah McGrath, Vice President, Executive Editor.

A Thousand Splendid Suns is propelled by the same superb instinct for storytelling that made The Kite Runner a beloved classic. It is a heart-wrenching chronicle of thirty years of Afghan history and a deeply moving story of family, friendship, faith and the salvation to be found in love.

Khaled Hosseini said, “In some ways, the writing of A Thousand Splendid Suns was an even more satisfying experience for me than the writing of The Kite Runner, because it was a more complex and ultimately unexpected journey.”

Sarah McGrath commented, “A Thousand Splendid Suns is a remarkable achievement. Hosseini confronts Afghanistan’s volatile history head-on, and shows how the evolving ideas about women dramatically change the lives of these unforgettable families. It’s a beautifully told, truly important novel, and one I found impossible to put down.”

A Thousand Splendid Suns is a riveting and powerful story of an unforgiving time, an unlikely friendship and an indestructible love.

Khaled Hosseini was born in Kabul, Afghanistan and moved to the United States in 1980. His first novel, The Kite Runner, was an international bestseller, published in 34 countries. In 2006, Mr. Hosseini received the Humanitarian Award from the United Nations Refugee Agency and was named a U.S. goodwill envoy to that agency. He is represented by literary agent Elaine Koster.

The Kite Runner was an international bestseller, published in 34 countries. Published in hardcover by Riverhead Books in June 2003, The Kite Runner won the Borders Original Voices Award in the fiction category. In addition, the book was named a Best Book of 2003 by Entertainment Weekly, was a San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year in 2003 and received the American Place Theatre’s Literature to Life Award.

The Riverhead Trade Paperback edition of The Kite Runner was published in April 2004, became a #1 New York Times bestseller and has been on The New York Times paperback fiction bestseller list for 103 weeks and counting, with more than 4 million copies shipped to date. The Kite Runner has been selected for over thirty city and community reading programs across the country.

In 2006, Mr. Hosseini received the Humanitarian Award from the United Nations Refugee Agency and was named a US goodwill envoy to that agency. He was also a featured speaker at the 2006 National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. He lives in Northern California.

Riverhead Books is an imprint of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., which is the US member of the internationally renowned Penguin Group. Penguin Group (USA) is one of the leading US adult and children’s trade book publishers, owning a wide range of imprints and trademarks, including Berkley Books, Dutton, Frederick Warne, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, Grosset & Dunlap, New American Library, Penguin Books, The Penguin Press, Philomel, Plume, Puffin, Riverhead Books and Viking, among others. The Penguin Group ( http://www.penguin.com) is part of Pearson plc, the international media company.