This book would not have been written if Stephen Landrigan had not come to Afghanistan, and I had not met him. He listened quietly when I spoke of the memories that haunted me, and encouraged me to write about them to ease their grip on my soul. His guidance helped me discover a love for writing. Someday I will write a book about all the good things he has done for Afghanistan. It will be a thick book.
A profound thanks to J. Garcia and Linda Nicita of Colorado, who read an early draft before I knew so much about the English language, and who cleaned up all the grammatical errors and misspelled words. Thanks also to Laurence E. Landrigan, whose careful reading and editing of my manuscript provided many helpful insights. Their generosity has been deeply impressed on me, and I welcome the obligation of passing it on.
Khaled Hosseini and Michael Patrick MacDonald not only inspired me by their own writing, they were helpful in opening doors to agents and publishers, and to them I am grateful.
I am especially appreciative of the professionalism and kindness extended by Courtney Hodell, my editor at Farrar, Straus and Giroux, who nurtured this book through many drafts. Also, a big thanks to Jessica Papin, my agent with Dystel & Goderich Literary Management, for her positive energy and hard work that led me to the team at Farrar, Straus and Giroux, where Marion Duvert and Devon Mazzone helped this book find publishers in many other countries and languages and Lottchen Shivers spread the word as its publicist.
And finally, thanks to Janie Harris, who gave me the first review long before A Fort of Nine Towers was even published. It was deeply moving to have somebody who lives on the other side of the world so excited by what I had written.
I hope this book will lead others to become curious about the many layers of Afghan culture that so unexpectedly and for so many of the wrong reasons have become the focus of the world’s attention.
ALSO BY QAIS AKBAR OMAR
Shakespeare in Kabul (with Stephen Landrigan)
A NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Qais Akbar Omar (whose first name rhymes with “rice”) manages his family’s carpet business in Kabul and writes books. In 2007, he was a visiting scholar at the University of Colorado. He has studied business at Brandeis University and is currently pursuing an MFA in creative writing at Boston University. Omar has lectured on Afghan carpets in Afghanistan, Europe, and the United States. He is the coauthor, with Stephen Landrigan, of Shakespeare in Kabul.
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
18 West 18th Street, New York 10011
Copyright © 2013 by Qais Akbar Omar
Maps copyright © 2013 by Jeffrey L. Ward
All rights reserved
First edition, 2013
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Omar, Qais Akbar.
A fort of nine towers: an Afghan family story / Qais Akbar Omar. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-374-15764-7 (hardcover: alk. paper)
1. Omar, Qais Akbar. 2. Afghanistan—Social conditions—20th century. 3. Afghanistan—Biography. I. Title.
CT1878.O63 A3 2013
958.104092—dc23
[B]
2012034566
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eISBN 9780374709181
A Fort of Nine Towers: An Afghan Family Story Page 41