Colbert Spars With "The Kite Runner" Author Hosseini
That Stephen Colbert sure is funny, and he sure has some funny ideas about books.
Just ask "The Kite Runner" author Khaled Hosseini.
Hosting a Saturday breakfast at BookExpo America, Colbert tangled good-naturedly with Hosseini, whose novels include "The Kite Runner" and a new best seller, "A Thousand Splendid Suns."
Colbert introduced Hosseini by stating that he had not read "The Kite Runner," a million-selling novel about two Afghani boys and the tragic recent history of their country, and assumed it was a book about a boy who loves kites.
"I loved yo-yos, so I can relate," Colbert said, who then referred to "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by groaning, "Great, another book about global warming."
Hosseini, meanwhile, declined to play the straight man. Before discussing his work, he turned to Colbert and announced that he would like "to address our emcee."
"You trashed `The Kite Runner,'" Hosseini accused his host, alleging such mistreatment on "The Colbert Report," Colbert's Comedy Central satire of television punditry. "It is un-American to diss `The Kite Runner.'"
AP | June 4, 2007 09:22 AM