Introduction


Salman Rushdie

Don’t assume that being a writer is necessarily a safe occupation. Just ask Salman Rushdie, whose fourth novel, The Satanic Verses, was so controversial that he was forced to live in hiding for nearly ten years. The novel had been criticized as portraying the prophet Muhammad irreverently, and when it was deemed as blasphemous by Islamic leaders, a fatwa (or death warrant) was placed on the author. Though the fatwa has been revoked at this point, some extremists still insist they want Rushdie dead. Happily, though, there are many more people who are content to just read his work. He garnered international acclaim when Midnight’s Children was published in 1981. Since then, that book has won numerous accolades, including the “Booker of Bookers” as the best novel to ever receive the prestigious Booker Award.

Essential Facts

  1. Salman Rushdie has been married four times, most recently to the host of the popular television show Top Chef, Padma Lakshmi. They are currently rumored to be divorcing.
  2. Rushdie was awarded the British knighthood in 2007 for his services to literature.
  3. He has openly criticized the wearing of the veil by Muslim women. “I think,” he has said, “the battle against the veil has been a long and continuing battle against the limitation of women.”
  4. Ironically, his first novel, Grimus, was a sci-fi story that no one paid much attention to.
  5. Rushdie had a tendon operation in 1999 to correct an eye problem. He claims that if he had not had it done, he would have been unable to open his eyes in later years.