Jamil Jan Kochai

Haunting of Hajji Hotak and Other Stories

A coming-of-age story about one boy's journey across contemporary Afghanistan to find and bring home the family dog, blending the grit and immediacy of voice-driven fiction like We Need New Names with the mythmaking of One Thousand and One Nights. Twelve-year-old Marwand's memories from his previous visit to Afghanistan six years ago center on his contentious relationship with Budabash, the terrifying but beloved dog who guards his extended family's compound in Logar. Eager to find an ally in this place that's meant to be "home," Marwand approaches Budabash the way he would any dog on his American suburban block--and the results are disastrous: Marwand loses a finger and Budabash escapes. The resulting search for the family dog is an expertly told adventure, a ninety-nine-night quest that sends Marwand and his cousins across the landscape of Logar. Moving between celebrations and tragedies, deeply humorous and surprisingly tender, 99 Nights in Logar is a vibrant exploration of the power of stories--the ones we tell each other, and the ones we find ourselves in.

99 Nights in Logar

"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

The Haunting of Hajji Hotak and Other Stories

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

Playing Metal Gear Solid V

Haunting of Hajji Hotak

Logar, Afghanistan, im Jahr 2005: Der 12-jährige Marwand kehrt mit seiner Familie für einen Sommer aus den USA in seine Heimat zurück. Doch wie "Heimat" fühlt sich das Dorf ohne McDonald's, dafür mit merkwürdigen Bräuchen und noch merkwürdigerer Sprache, überhaupt nicht an. Und dann beißt ihm gleich am ersten Tag Budabasch, der dreibeinige Wachhund des Dorfes, eine Fingerspitze ab und verschwindet in den Weiten des Hindukuschs. Für Marwand und seine Freunde beginnt eine abenteuerliche Jagd durch ein kriegsversehrtes Land. Eine wilde und märchenhafte Suche in 99 Nächten nach dem eigenen Platz zwischen den Kulturen. "Bevor ich es vergesse, hier sind ein paar Dinge, die ich in Logar sah: Eine Kobra. Sechs Kinder im Alter von vier bis elf, die zu der Kobra liefen. Eine Kobra mit abgezogener Haut, von sechs Kindern totgeschlagen. Eine Drohne (glaube ich?). 1.226 weiße Lilien. Einen wahren Gott. Keinen Budabasch."

Jamil Jan Kochai

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