The book Shooting Kabul opens with the family of Fadi desperately trying to flee Afghanistan and the harsh and threatening rule imposed upon them by the Taliban.
The family is struggling to get by in Afghanistan. The subsist on very little, bread, simple stews, the occasional hunk of cheese- the quality of life that Fadis family lives with is very poor and it does not look like it will be getting better any time soon.
Another problem that the family faces is that Fadis mother Zafoona is very sick. She has a disease that cannot even be diagnosed in Kabul. It is really bad, she coughing blood and it is clear that if she does not get help soon it is very likely she will die.
All of these things set the background for the family's desperate travels to America.
Something that is interesting to me is that once they finally get to America, although a lot of things do seem better for them- food, medicine, ect- at the same time a lot of things end up getting worse for them. Fadi's, father Habib, is a very educated man. He has a PHD, and just by having that a person might expect that in America he would be able to find a job that matches his capabilities, but unfortunately once he gets to America he finds that he cannot find a job and is forced to make a living doing something that is very much below his capabilities- taxi driving. He has to work extremely hard to provide the bare minimum for his family in America, This just goes to show how unfair and challenging things can be for immigrants and anyone hoping to find the American Dream.
The saddest part of this book is that, while the family was fleeing, they accidently lost the youngest member, Mariam.
The book makes a point of all the extra stress and sadness this brings the family. Hopefully by the end of the book things get better for Fadi and his family, and Mariam is found. That is really one of the main hopes of this book.
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