“99 Nights in Logar” adopted the tales within tales style of the classic, “One Thousand and One Nights”. Marwand’s visit to Logar and his hunt for Budabash paved way for his people to tell him their stories: real-life and fantastical stories, funny stories and sad ones or both things at once, stories that are passed from one’s lips to another, oftentimes through speech and sometimes through songs.

The book offered me a lot of insights about storytelling. Marwand’s young uncle, Gulbuddin, advised that it’s okay to change a story if it makes it more interesting. He also said that heroes and romance are staples of a good story. Probably the wisdom with the most impact for me came from Agha, Marwand’s dad. In the subtlest of ways, he made Marwand understand that story-telling is a gateway to know his heritage and his people. And that’s basically the meat of the book for me: Marwand’s coming of age is a cultural awakening of sorts through the Afghan’s rich tapestry of tales.

Marwand’s naive confidence on assembling a crew of young cousins and uncles to hunt for the dog Budabash is delightfully funny. If you are someone who is charmed by a ragtag of precocious kids in American shows like “Stranger Things”, you’ll probably enjoy the adventures of Marwand and crew as well. Aside from our 12-year old Marwand, there’s the 14-year old romantic Gul and his impeccable little mustache, 13-year-old Dawood who loves eating, Marwand’s little bro Gwora who keeps secret journals, and my personal favorite, 13-year old Zia who is pure and prayerful.

The chaos that is Marwand’s big extended family is endearing. With a soft Baba (grandpa) and an obstinate Abo (grandma) at the helm, they are the kind of family who fusses about each other’s business; for instance, an aunt’s marriage prospects. The family’s compound is far from the war zone that the fighting are mere sounds that lull them to sleep. But it’s just as near enough that they encounter the Talibans and the G.I. soldiers on the streets. An uncle is working as an interpreter in an American base.

Without a doubt, I am captivated by the book. As a reader unfamiliar with Afghanistan aside maybe from what’s on the news, I am grateful to glimpse the country and its people through the eyes of Marwand. I admit that the tales within tales style of the book is a wobbly crutch for a satisfying plot and character arc. And there could be layers or symbolism in the book that would make foreigners like me grasping at straws. The reveal to the overarching mystery about the death of Marwand’s uncle, Watak, is a taciturn twist written in the native language. I tried to get an answer from the author in Twitter and what I got is a promise of a sequel. Albeit underwhelming, this is still happy news for me. I'd be glad to read more and get back with these people and in this place again.

This is a beautifully written story of a young Afghani/American boy who, with his family, returns to the Afghan village of his mother. The author weaves storytelling within the narrative to help tell the tale of this young man, his extended family, and the culture and history central to his Afghanistan experience. This technique of communication within the central story arc is an essential part of this book's authenticity. The boy moves through the story to find pieces of himself by first hand experience and through the people and places in the stories shared by his family. The importance of Islam, family ties, honor, even the food draw readers in and holds them close. My only quibble with the e-book version is that there is no translation of vocabulary (what cannot be understood from context), and the lovely Arabic characters that appear at chapter ends (and indeed make up the only lettering in one story) are not translated at all..