The Haunting of Hajji Hotak and Other Stories
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4.0 • 7 Ratings
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
FINALIST FOR THE 2022 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION
WINNER OF THE 2023 ASPEN WORDS LITERARY PRIZE, AND THE 2023 O. HENRY PRIZE
NAMED ONE OF THE NEW YORKER'S BEST BOOKS OF 2022
"An endlessly inventive and moving collection from a thrilling and capacious young talent." —Jess Walter, author of Beautiful Ruins.
A luminous new collection of stories from a young writer who “has brought his culture’s rich history, mythology, and lyricism to American letters.” —Sandra Cisneros
Pen/Hemingway finalist Jamil Jan Kochai breathes life into his contemporary Afghan characters, moving between modern-day Afghanistan and the Afghan diaspora in America. In these arresting stories verging on both comedy and tragedy, often starring young characters whose bravado is matched by their tenderness, Kochai once again captures “a singular, resonant voice, an American teenager raised by Old World Afghan storytellers.”*
In “Playing Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain," a young man's video game experience turns into a surreal exploration on his own father's memories of war and occupation. Set in Kabul, "Return to Sender" follows two married doctors driven by guilt to leave the US and care for their fellow Afghans, even when their own son disappears. A college student in the US in "Hungry Ricky Daddy" starves himself in protest of Israeli violence against Palestine. And in the title story, "The Haunting of Hajji Hotak," we learn the story of a man codenamed Hajji, from the perspective of a government surveillance worker, who becomes entrenched in the immigrant family's life.
The Haunting of Hajji Hotak and Other Stories is a moving exploration of characters grappling with the ghosts of war and displacement—and one that speaks to the immediate political landscape we reckon with today.
*The New York Times Book Review
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Jamil Jan Kochai’s spellbinding story collection explores the complicated lives of Afghans everywhere. The author of 99 Nights in Logar crafts 13 heartwarming, challenging, and poignant tales, all told through the eyes of characters who are living with Afghanistan’s history of colonization and turmoil. Kochai isn’t afraid to fill these stories with beautiful or even jarringly evocative imagery, like a dead body laying in the Afghan snow. His fluid prose makes every character feel lived in and real, whether it’s a young man pulled into a surreal video-game experience or an immigrant woman haunted by her lost children. This affecting book is charged with grief and hope, which are such a part of Afghan identity—and the human experience as a whole.
