Khaled Hosseini is an Afghan-born American novelist and physician. After graduating from college, he worked as a doctor in California, an occupation that he likens to "an arranged marriage" for him. He has published three novels, most notably his 2003 debut The Kite Runner, all of which are at least partially set in Afghanistan and feature an Afghan as the protagonist. Following the success of The Kite Runner, he decided to stop practicing medicine and became a full-time writer.