The book is a living demonstration of the power of the mind. How to think beyond what the world has to offer, how the world may persecute you yet you live.

A most compelling collection of insights into contemporaries, race, religion, politics, his disconnect and suffering.

The language is easily understood, however, i suggest multiple sittings in order that you may be able to absorb each essay as an individual work and not a sub part of Imaginary Homelands

Rushdie is a great writer to study due to the controversy that surrounds his work. How many writers can say they went into hiding because of public death threats? Not many.

Some believe that he wrote The Satanic Verses for attention and more fame. Some believe that he purposefully, and maliciously, slandered Islam so his book would sell. I don’t believe that. His work was taken the wrong way. Rushdie meant no harm. He just had a story to tell and perhaps the world (or at least part of it) was not quite ready for it.

What I’ve noticed with Rushdie is how he tries so very, very, hard to make his books relevant. He addresses current affairs and problems over identity in a world that is becoming globalised. As harsh as it may sound, I believe as he has got older he has become less relevant. His newer books don’t sell anymore and his words do not carry the power they once did. Perhaps he used up his creative spark too early or perhaps he simply grew tired. Whatever the case may be, the Rushdie that writes today is not as good as the one who was active in the eighties.

Here are essays and criticisms that he wrote on all manner of things when he was at his peak. He comments on his own novels, on the politics and religions of India along with stating his opinion regarding other writers such as Ishiguro and Marquez. There are some real juicy pieces. I always find it a little inspiring hearing how a man (who is already a great writer at this point) engages with other writes that the reading public also admire (that I admire). There was a little piece on Stephen Hawking too, which shows how beneficial it is for a writer to read widely. A Brief History of Time clearly influenced Rushdie intellectually.

This will be of great interest to those who are studying Rushdie or perhaps wish to write on him, like I was, though for those looking for a more engaging read I recommend Joseph Anton. It’s his autobiography and it reveals much about his creative process as a writer. I’ll be reviewing that one soon too. For the right reader though, there is some great bits in here.

Motley essay collection by recognized author. Is he noteworthy, in himself, or in fatwah by Ayatollah Khomeini? You decide. Salient point that Man Booker prize assumes colonial Commonwealth - writers subsumed, without seeing their artistic integrity. He is good writer and fabulist.

I enjoyed the essays, particularly the book and author reviews. Although they went back to the 1980s, it was interesting to get Rushdie's perspective on events of those times.

To be fair, I skimmed through some of the essays because I was not interested in the topics, such as essays on Bills in Parliament from the 80s, or an experience at a festival in Adelaide. It’s however staggering to see how prescient some of Rushdie’s observations on religion, racism, fundamentalism, politics, and art are, and how progressive he comes across in his essays. The hit job on John le Carre’s work also echoes with the latter’s public reaction to Rushdie’s situation following Satanic Verses. I should also look at East, West next.

A few years ago, when doing research for an essay, I came across the title; I’m pretty sure an online partial-text of the titular essay gave me a useful quote, though for the life of me I can’t find it now. In any case, when I saw the physical book for five bucks on the bargain table, I figured - why not?

It turned out to be quite good, for the most part. It’s a collection of Rushdie’s essays from the 80s and 90s, and most of them are very good. For example, he discusses the notion of post-colonial literature in a very frank and interesting way (the essay I was writing was on this topic) and his account of the Satanic Verses saga highlights the insane privilege religion is afforded in our society in a way that few other people could. His discussions of the politics of India and the surrounding nations, too, were extremely enlightening and interesting, despite the fact that I previously had little knowledge or interest in the situation.

My only real problem with the collection is that it isn’t so much a collection, with common themes tying the essays together, as it is a stack of paper. The stuff I’ve mentioned so far all have at least tenuous links to each other, so I could handle that - but they seem to have pretty much every book review he did in those two decades as well. Clearly, I’m interested in A Brief History of Time, and I’m interested in what Salman Rushdie has to say about the things he’s knowledgeable about - but I’m not really interested in what Salman Rushdie has to say about A Brief History of Time. And I’m even less interested in what he has to say about books I’m not interested in.

See my review on aisleb.tumblr.com

Very helpful when you have to write a dissertation on Rushdie. Also helpful in any other context, including being generally in awe of the man.

This essay collection takes you back to Rushdie’s heroic efforts to speak out in favor of freedom of speech, secularism, atheism, multiculturalism, artistic integrity, and literary and intellectual sophistication. Lots of great political and literary essays here but the most compelling relate to the Satanic Verses and surrounding controversy. Rushdie’s cosmopolitanism is a wonder to behold. So is his courage. Had he been either killed or silenced, the world would have been much the poorer for it.

2019: Prefer his essays to his novels. Magical realism is not my cup of tea.
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2017: I haven't finished this, but I couldn't wait to post a short note. This essay collection is sublime. I highly recommend "Commonwealth Literature Does Not Exist" to everyone interested in English literature. I won't say more: let Rushdie do the talking here.

I didn't like very much his book reviews but I enjoyed following his life experience and his opinions about migration...

I enjoy reading literary criticism from my favourite authors and this book by Rushdie was great. He is of course quite famous because of the fatwa against him following his publication of The Satanic Verses so he does talk about this but also about his diverse literary tastes. He is very erudite and fascinating to read. He talks about Indian politics and censorship and its impact on his life but also includes a treasure chest of book reviews and literary criticism on such authors (also my favourites!) as Saul Bellow, Philip Roth, Italo Calvino, Thomas Pynchon, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and many more. I really loved this book of essays and found it wonderfully diverse and full of insight. I can actually thank this book for having exposed me to a few writers that I had never explored before like Vargas Llosa.