Laconic, sharp and playful, 99 Nights in Logar is a stunning coming-of-age novel and a portrait of Afghanistan like no other, from an unforgettable new voice
Laconic, sharp and playful, 99 Nights in Logar is a stunning coming-of-age novel and a portrait of Afghanistan like no other, from an unforgettable new voice Me and Gul and Zia and Dawoud out on the roads of Logar, together, for the first time, hoping to get Budabash back home before nightfall
It is 2005 in Logar, Afghanistan, and twelve-year-old Marwand has returned from America with his family for the summer. He loses the tip of his finger to the village dog, Budabash, who then escapes. Marwand’s quest to find Budabash, over 99 nights, begins.
The resulting search is an exuberantly told adventure, one that takes Marwand and his cousins across Logar, through mazes, into floods and unexpected confrontations with American soldiers. Moving between celebrations and tragedies, Marwand must confront family secrets and his own identity as he returns to a home he’s missed for six years.
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.
A radically new, fresh take on Afghanistan. This is funny, cool, sharp and about teenage boys, the power of stories and family life.
An Afghan Submarine or Catcher in the Rye, and for readers of Junot Diaz, NoViolet Bulawayo, Zadie Smith, Joe Dunthorne and Taiye Selasi Jamil Jan Kochai is a tremendously exciting young voice. Just twenty-five, he is currently a Truman Capote Fellow at the Iowa Writer’s Workshop and a star of the future.
Reviews
“A revelation, in every sense of the word … A romp, a poem, a prayer, a song of childhood, like youth itself, the writing is all energy, adventure, and possibility. Jamil Jan Kochai is an astoundingly talented writer. Listen up” – Justin Torres, author of We the Animals
“Imagine a twelve-year-old Don Quixote traversing a world full of absurdities and tragedies … Hilariously sad and heartbreakingly funny. Jamil Jan Kochai, a thrilling new writer, achieves in this book that rare quality of a storyteller both ageless and contemporary” – Yiyun Li, author of Gold Boy, Emerald Girl
Author Biography: Jamil Jan Kochai was born in Pakistan and grew up in the United States. He has a Masters in English from UC Davis and is a Truman Capote Fellow at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. His fiction has appeared, or is forthcoming, in A Public Space, Ploughshares, and The O. Henry Prize Stories. 99 Nights in Logar is his debut novel.