On February 14, 1989, Valentine's Day, Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini issued the "fatwa" on Anglo-Indian novelist Salman Rushdie for his perceived anti-Islamic novel The Satanic Verses, a death sentence that sent the author into hiding for a decade (the fatwa was lifted in 1998). In this profile from the Great Writers series, the author of the just released Fury, as well as The Ground Beneath Her Feet (1999), The Moor's Last Sigh (1995), the Booker prize winning debut novel Midnight's Children (1981), and other works, reflects briefly on what he calls the "black fame" that literally altered the course of his life, both privately to the camera and at a filmed dinner party with the New York Times' Bill Buford and others. In addition to reading passages from the novels, talking about his childhood, and pointing out geographical locations germane to his writings, Rushdie also visits with novelist Paul Auster, and is seen onstage with U2's Bono in a 1993 concert. Most hauntingly, this insightful overview of a gifted contemporary writer targeted by religious terrorists ends with an eerie shot of the former World Trade Center, a painful picture in any setting, but particularly poignant here given Rushdie's own struggle with ruthless, mindless fanaticism. Recommended. Other titles in this made-for-libraries collection include: Anthony Burgess, Truman Capote, Joseph Conrad, Roald Dahl, William Faulkner, Jack London, John Steinbeck and Tennessee Williams. Definitely recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (R. Pitman)
Great Writers: Salman Rushdie
(1999) 50 min. $19.95. Kultur. PPR. Color cover. ISBN: 0-7697-2194-X. Volume 16, Issue 6
Great Writers: Salman Rushdie
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