the gifts of the state: new writing from afghanistan

This is a collection of stories by Afghans under the age of 30, written in English under the guidance of a guy named Adam Klein. They are very affecting, sometimes strange, sometimes horrifying, often but not always sad. I just started Will You Please Be Quiet, Please and already it's easy to see how much greater Carver's genius is than that of these writers. But that's not a fair comparison and it misses the point: The Gifts of the State is awesome because it humanizes and provides the kind of deep context for Afghanistan that's probably only achievable through fiction.