Controversy In Bookseller of Kabul

1- Did Seierstad "use" the Khan family? Yes. The reason for her trip to Afghanistan was to explore and uncover the facets of life, especially for women, in Afghanistan so that her readers could have a better understanding of life in Afghanistan. That was made clear in the introduction to the book. Seierstad discovered Sultan Khan. She admired for his courage as a bookseller in Kabul. This original attraction brought Seierstad to the Khan home, where she behaved as a spy on Afghan culture and life, extracting bits and pieces from everyone that she encountered. All these pieces of information came together like a puzzle, and presented a picture of how Seierstad saw life in Afghanistan, especially for women, during her visit. Seierstad absolutely used the family, taking advantage of her position as a foreigner to view both sides of life, literally from the segregated rooms of men and women. Only Seierstad could be with women and men without opposition from the Khan family or the Afghani culture. Furthermore, even though Seierstad asked the family what she could and could not record, the family could not anticipate how the final product would appear. In particular, Sultan Khan was enraged that the book portrayed him in such a negative light and that the book hurt his reputation. Sultan Khan certainly felt used by Seierstad as the cruel, oppressive antagonist.

2- Does a family represent an entire people? No. If two people see an event, both will have a different perception and description of the event. Likewise, Seierstad entered Afganistan, viewed life, and wrote her book- the way she saw things. Just based on discrepancies in accounts from person to person, the description of one family would vary considerably. So there is no way that a family can represent a people and a culture. Furthermore, Seierstad frames her story as a documentary, or a true account, of what she witnessed. However, Seierstad also wants to sell books and make money, so she includes only those stories/vignettes that captivate the reader and elicit pathos from the Western reader who wants to learn more about Afghani culture. Usually, these stories are negative, descriptions that portray the  side of life in Afghanistan that would be deemed unfavorable by a Western reader. As a result of Seierstad's selectiveness of what she writes, it is impossible to represent the entire Afghani culture and people.