[on his novel 'And the Mountains Echoes'] Fiction accomplishes things that the writer probably doesn't intend - it has a life and a significance beyond what the writer wanted. I could say I write my books so that people understand Afghanistan better, but it wouldn't be true. I write because I love these characters. A single image began this book: a man walking across the desert, pulling a Red Radio wagon behind him with a little girl inside and a boy following them. I had to figure out who these people were and what was happening.