Jamil Jan Kochai Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Short Story Collections

Jamil Jan Kochai is a prolific upcoming author, who has a particular interest in writing contemporary, magical realism, and fiction stories. His recently released first book, 99 Nights in Logar, has garnered excellent reviews from readers all over the world. Kochai has received praises from numerous critics for his mind-blowing story and engaging cast of characters. Many prominent authors have reviewed his work with great comments and motivating reviews. Some of the most popular literary journals & magazines have also reviewed the book very well. Author Kochai was born in 1992 in Peshawar, Pakistan. But, he is an original inhabitant of Logar in Afghanistan. Currently, Kochai resides in Iowa City. He completed his graduation with a bachelor’s degree from the California University, Sacramento. Later, he earned his master’s degree from California University, Davis.

Kochai’s work has appeared in literary journals like The Capilano Review, Ploughshares, The Sewanee Review, and A Public Space. Kochai has held the fellowship of Truman Capote at the Iowa Writers Workshop. During the time growing up in the United States, Kochai penned a story called Nights in Logar. Later, he used this story to develop his first book. The story has won the O. Henry Prize in 2018. By winning this prestigious award, Kochai had already announced his arrival in the literary world. The release of his first novel was highly awaited by many. People have been looking forward to reading his debut novel and enjoy his masterpiece for a very long time. And when he finally finished the writing part of the book and released it, he did not disappoint any of the readers. It has been welcomed with great love and appreciation.

The book received immense popularity in all the places of its publishing in only a few days of its release. The praise and love for the book kept on growing with each passing day and is still growing effectively. The huge sales record of the book is a proof of its popularity and success. Author Kochai is overwhelmed with such a great response from all across the globe for his book. He feels all his effort to write the novel has paid off. He is thankful to all the readers for loving his book and letting it become successful. The readers hope that this success will motivate him to write many more exciting stories in the future, so that he keeps entertaining them for as long as he can.

The debut book written by author Jamil Jan Kochai is entitled ’99 Nights in Logar’. It was released by the Penguin publication in January 2019. The book contains the central characters in the roles of Marwand, Budabash, Dawood, Gul, and Zia. Author Kochai has done the story’s setting in Logar, Afghanistan. This book tells the coming-of-age tale of the journey of a boy across a contemporary town of Afghanistan and his attempt to bring back the family dog. Kochai has blended the story with immediacy and grit of voice driven fiction and mythmaking similar to that of One Thousand & One Nights stories. The story begins by introducing Marwand as a 12-year-old boy living in the United States. He is a native of Logar and visits his hometown every few years. The last time he had visited Logar, he was six years old. During that visit, Marwand had developed a contentious relationship with his family dog named Budabash.

The dog if quite terrifying, but a beloved of Marwand’s family. The members of his family are grateful to Budabash for guarding the large compound of the extended family in Logar all the time. Marwand tries to become friends with Budabash and make him his ally. He approaches him the way he would approach any other dog in the suburban block in America, but the outcome is so disastrous that he did not see it coming. Budabash bites Marwand’s hand, making him lose a part of his index finger, and escapes. Following this incident, an adventurous search begins to find the family dog. The quest is expertly described by author Kochai and shows how Marwand and his close cousins spend 99 nights across Logar’s landscape looking for the dog. The story moves between tragedies and celebrations and contains surprisingly tender as well as deeply humorous elements.

The vibrant exploration by author Kochai keeps the readers intrigued till the last page of the book and entertains them with every word. The story is beautifully written by Kochai with complex and multilayered structures. Its narrative contains stories within it that comprise of a coming-of-age description and the challenges of belonging and identity. This story, particularly resonates those kinds of readers who have shifted to some other place away from their homeland and made some other country their home. In describing the complex relationship between Budabash and Marwarnd, Kochai has given rich descriptions that every reader loved very much. He has also painted a picture depicting Afghanistan’s forbidden geography as well as its culture, strong storytelling tradition, history, legends, myths, and the living conditions of extended families. Marwand’s story and journey also outline the dangerous political situation in the country because of the US occupation. This novel has done a brilliant job in depicting the tragedy of the history and the present situation of a nation from the point of view of a young boy returning to his home after several years.

In addition to describing an excellent story about adventure, history, political situation, and a young kid’s personal quest, the book also explains family values and what it means to live in an extended family. There are some heartwarming aspects of reuniting, bonding, and homecoming that the readers felt quite interesting to read about. Overall, this novel provides an excellent read and has something for all types of readers in it. Author Kochai has used the regional languages of Farsi and Pashto for describing certain specific elements of the story. Some very popular literary agencies have showered their love on this book with the kind and praising words. They include Harper’s Magazine, TIME magazine, Southern Living, Buzzfeed, Publisher’s Weekly, Booklist, Kirkus Reviews, etc. All these have praised the different elements of this novel in their own words. Even many fellow writers have come forward to support the book. They have requested the readers to support this book and give as much love and support to Kochai as they can. Such a great support from every corner of the world has boosted Kochai’s confidence very much, thereby motivating him to write a few more exciting stories in the coming days.