Well he had to hide out and change his name. They did put a death threat on him. I've never had a death threat on me so I'm not gonna judge. I think he stands for the right to publish despite political suppression, so I'm good with him.
Books should never be banned so I'm saying your wrong But love a good debate :)
A bit of a dick? I don't know. He's certainly a prima-donna and full of himself. That said, I'm with Covewriter: books shouldn't be banned.
Now that ive thought about this a bit I wonder why you going after Rushdie?He is totally for writers, free expression, exposing wrong. Where did the negative thing about Rushdie come from?
Oh hai, linkbait.
So Zoe Heller is 'fab' but Salman Rushdie is a dick because he offended people? Didn't Zoe Heller just offend fans of Salman Rushdie?
Think of the hypocrisy and sheer narcissism of Heller, under the guise of white guilt, using this article as a cover for her attack on Jospeh Anton.
@Dino That may be, but dude dates supermodels, was knighted, and writes serious prose. And he's certainly not the only writer who could be called vain.
He did not deserve what he got, not by a long shot. The fatwā was knee-jerk bullshit, and can't be lifted because supposedly only the one who issues it can do that (and the Ayatollah Khomeini is dead), even though Iran no longer formally recognises it.
As a writer and reader I support all words' rights to be both written and read, offensive or not. He has every right to "whinge" about his book being banned in HIS NATIVE (and predominantly Hindu) COUNTRY.
Fuck Heller and NYT NYBR. If you've read Joseph Anton you know how grateful and indebted Rushdie was and is to the U.S., particularly NYC.
@Em: You're totally right about hom as a writer. I have Joseph Anton waiting to be read. That said, i've heard many podcasts, seen and read interviews of him, and he IS a smug diva. I think it's fine, and in no way do I use it to comment on the insane ordeal he went through with that fatwa. He was a diva before that, and you could argue that he's even more of one now, and maybe that's a good thing--as a triumph over what he had undergone. Miles Davis wrote AMAZING pieces of music--pasionate and innovate. Ditto Beethoven. But they were also class-1 assholes too. Perhaps it goes with the territory most of the time.
You are all beneath me.*
[can i be famous and rich now]
*you're not, really, i was just, you know, hoping somebody would think i was important because i said that
I have a signed copy of Midnight's Children which I found at a thrift shop. It's not worth very much. You'd think an autograph from a man who was supposedly in hiding due to constant danger would fetch a few bucks, but it seems he was actually hanging out with Bono and shit that whole time, instead of almost being dead.
I don't really have anything against him, but it seems like the drama of his situation was played up, maybe for political purposes.
I guess it was probably real danger for a few years, after which they just kind of had to keep on watching him, because you never know, and wouldn't it be embarassing if he got blown up just a few months after British Intelligence stopped watching, etc.
Also, NYRB is not the NYT.
Having someone threaten your life isn't as big a deal as you'd think.
And even though I've chatted with Rushdie via Twitter, and think he is a big prick who is terrible at real-time arguing, his and everyone's books should never be banned by anyone, anywhere, at anytime.
He probably is a bit of a dick because he got a supermodel to marry him. They always fall for the dicks.
In a way, I resent all the manners and chivalry my parents instilled in me.
Sort of an oddly inflammatory post. The idea that a book should be banned to piss off a jerk of a writer, I mean. I'm gonna go ahead and assume that was a joke.
fine, you convinced me, I'll read the article.
And now that makes more sense.
@Dino Sorry, rest of that post was meant for the original poster. Yeah, I agree he is pleased with himself (it doesn't help that his face naturally looks smug), but I would probably be the same way, honestly, if I were that good. The man can write. I loved Joseph Anton and found it fascinating. And nowadays we'd probably call Papa a 'diva'. I think there's kind of an unfair double-standard about writers, that somehow hot/amazing/accomplished/whatever writers are supposed to act differently than their counterparts in the other arts, like A-list actors and pop stars.
I don't think he should act differently. Saying he's a diva isn't meant as a moral judgment, but just caliing it what it is. I think in his own way, he embraces it:) I just thought that referring to him as "kind of a dick" was a bit harsh, and I wonder if his prima-donna-ishness has simply been overly inflated into dickishness. And I'm really looking forward to reading Joseph Anton!
I don't think he should act differently. Saying he's a diva isn't meant as a moral judgment, but just caliing it what it is. I think in his own way, he embraces it:) I just thought that referring to him as "kind of a dick" was a bit harsh, and I wonder if his prima-donna-ishness has simply been overly inflated into dickishness. And I'm really looking forward to reading Joseph Anton!
This thread reminds me a lot of the episode of Ninja Detective where Jackie Chan is asked to go undercover to bust a drug ring, but he doesn't know a lot about drug culture or street gangs. So he walks in looking like the 4th member of RUN-DMC, keeps trying to give crazy handshakes, and tells everyone he's with the gang "The Toughs." Finally, when no one opening offers him any deals, he says to the group "Word to your mothers! Which of you homeboys can help me score some mad drugs?"
So, who's the Jackie Chan surrogate? Or is the thread itself the Jackie Chan to the NYRB's street gang?
Or does basically anything anyone posts remind you of Ninja Detective?
Is Ninja Detective even a real show?
^ LitReactor: Bridging the gap between high literary and Ninja Detective since 2011.
I just laughed so hard.
I think the thread itself is Jacki Chan.
Okay, that was seriously funny.
Could just be he is a bit traumatized. Looking back we know that no one tried to kill him, but that must have taken years to figure out.
The legitmacy of your book being banned or not being banned has nothing to do with whether not you are a dick (the general you, of course). I've seen some interviews he's done recently and yes, I think he is a bit of a dick. I mean, I'm glad noone killed him, and I don't think the book should have been banned anywhere, but he's still a dick.
I think there's kind of an unfair double-standard about writers, that somehow hot/amazing/accomplished/whatever writers are supposed to act differently than their counterparts in the other arts, like A-list actors and pop stars.
I agree, but I don't think we need to encourage writers to be more like actors and pop stars. We need to encourage everyone to realize that being famous = / = being way, totally, completely, and obviously BETTER than everyone else. When I see other celebrities acting this way (which is admittedly not too often, as I don't follow "entertainment" news very often) I think they're acting dickish.
What if you genuinely are better than pretty much everyone else tho?
So if we're saying banning books is okay now, and even banning a book purely out of spite no less, maybe it will also be okay to, like, mercy-kill disabled children? What if the kids are like super prickish too? That cool? Can we eat the cake too?
Book reviews are a height bar that helps you not waste your time and way better than the false advertising that banning causes.
@Cath Murphy - the people have spoken, I'm curious as to your rebuttal...
