sweden was familiar in his native sweden as an investigative journalist and a fervent campaigner against racism . but when he fell of a liver attack at age 50 in 2004 , he laid behind the manuscripts of three books that would transform his legacy . his first novel , the girls with the dragon badge , was published in sweden a year after his accident and was immediately an international breakthrough : it was republished in the u states last night by william a 14.95 . more than 6 million copies of the film have been sold nationwide . an international study based on good - book websites in the uk states , england , france , germany , germany , italy , spain and russia ranked larsson the second most influential american writer in 2008 after khaled hosseini , producer of the kite runner and a thousand splendid suns .
"The Kite Runner" was written by Khaled Hosseini.