Living in the shadow of fatwa is decidedly unpleasant, but the story promises to make for a riveting read.
Acclaimed author
Salman Rushdie is now contemplating a book that could be one of the most anticipated story of the future: The story of his life with a price on his head for 'blasphemy', following the publication of his fourth novel,
The Satanic Verses, in 1988.
Speaking to
Mail Today on the sidelines of the India Today Conclave 2010, Rushdie said: "I now have the time and stillness when I can think of my next book, a memoir." This, he said, would "answer questions everyone always asks me". Rushdie has just finished penning the screenplay of Deepa Mehta's
Midnight's Children and his next book,
Luka and The Fire of Life, a companion volume to
Haroun and the Sea of Stories. His memoir, he said, will not be a traditional autobiography featuring scenes from his childhood. "I will cover the 10-12 year period from the publication of
The Satanic Verses and the issues it raised personally and publicly. I think it's an interesting story and it is my story to tell," he said.
What'll make this book truly sensational is that, as the Booker of Bookers-winning writer pointed out, "90 per cent" of what happened in his life under the fatwa, which was issued by the Iranian religious despot, Ayatollah Khomenei, is "not in the public domain." Given that Rushdie has consistently been the most talked- about writer (no other writer, for instance, has been featured as much in India Today as he), the memoir promises to be a revelation.
Full report
here India Today
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