This mesmerizing portrait of a proud man who, through three decades and successive repressive regimes, heroically braved persecu-tion to bring books to the people of Kabul has elicited extraordinary praise throughout the world and become a phenomenal international bestseller. The Bookseller of Kabul is startling in its intimacy and its details-a revelation of the plight of Afghan women and a window into the surprising realities of daily life in today's Afghanistan.

Foreword

The Proposal

Burning Books

Grime and Punishment

Suicide and Song

The Business Trip

Do You Want to Make Me Sad?

No Admission to Heaven

Billowing, Fluttering, Winding

A Third-Rate Wedding

The Matriarch

Temptations

The Gall from Ali

The Smell of Dust

An Attempt

Can God Die?

The Dreary Room

The Carpenter

My Mother Osama

A Broken Heart

Epilogue