It's Rushdie.......it's worth reading...

I started this on my Sony ebook reader - large font DOES make a difference!

Unfortunately, the on/off switch broke and the device is more or less dead. I've got a small font paperback and cannot read for long periods of time without getting severe eye strain (I've got a mild case of glaucoma). So bit by bit by bit, I read with joy the English language crafted by a true artisan - this book is a joy!

It took forever and ever and ever to finish this book - such is the plight of a word-by-word reader. Yet this was worthwhile and patience was justifiably rewarded.

An enlightening, hilarious, and somewhat self-indulgent collection of essays that allows us to peer inside Salman Rushdie's brilliance. Inspired me to reach beyond 'Midnight's Children' and 'Satanic Verses'.

In general, I like Rushdie's thinking, both in fiction and nonfiction form, but this collection of essays mostly just didn't do it for me. I by no means state this as any sort of definitive fact: Definitely don't take my word for it. Some of the essays were interesting, but I'd already read a lot of his writing on the fatwa, which he explores in considerably more depth in his memoirs Joseph Anton, and a lot of the other essays were simply on topics that didn't interest me: literary criticism of authors I've never read or discussions on Indian politics that were over my head.

This isn't to say that none of it captured my attention: His discussion of the September 11th attacks is enlightening, if brief, and I found his analysis of The Wizard of Oz fun. But overall, this collection simply wasn't for me. It might be for you.

I think that Rushdie is a tremendous writer. Overall the essays were insightful, some were a bit esoteric for me though.

refreshing direction for a true iconoclast. though nonfiction, typical rushdieisms find their way into the structure. allegories of borders, man made and otherwise. both current and timeless.

Oh my. This is the first of Rushdie's writing I've read. I read it in bits and pieces over the course of a week, staying with a friend up in the Northwest Territories.

The essays were brilliant, each one thought-provoking, readable without being dumbed-down, and witty. Likewise, the fourth section pieces on frontiers and ideas - incredible, and absolutely warrant a re-read (or three) at a later point in time.

I knew only the basic details of the 'Rushdie affair' before I started this, so I found the middle two sections informative, since I've not been over-saturated with the topic before.

I'm glad this was my introduction to Rushdie, and I must say I'm excited to tackle some of his fiction, and other non-fiction as well.

This was pretty good in spots. Rushdie is an entrancing writer when he really gets wound up about something, very creative use of lingo, wakes you right up. I like a lot of his ideas too. The first long piece about 'The Wizard of Oz' was excellent! There were several pieces about life for Muslims after 9-11 which were interesting but not riveting--I guess they've dated a bit. Then some neat things about his childhood in Bombay/Mumbai. I didn't finish it all (some too boring bits), but glad I read what I did of it.

This book is divided into four parts. The first part, Essays, in which Rushdie wrote about his love affair with football, thoughts about the Wizard of Oz, the revolutionary nature of rock music, and the unreplicable experience of seeing beautiful things in person, is the most enjoyable. In these essays we see Rushdie the world citizen, the man with gravitas yet able to poke fun at himself, the man with the mercilessly trenchant pen and an endlessly mischievous sense of hunor.

The second part, Messages From the Plague Years, shows Rushdie at his bravest. In this section he addresses the fatwa leveled against him by Ayatollah Khomeini in 1988. What struck me here was Rushdie's unwavering support for free speech and thought, and his clear-eyed assessment of the fatwa not just an attack on his person, but on the free world in general.

The third part, Columns, is this book's low point. While Rushdie's newspaper columns addressed important issues, columns are inherently reactionary, and we have enough columnists on social media in our day.

By the time I got to the end of Columns, I had no energy left to read the fourth part, a two-part essay entitled Step Across This Line.

This book reminds me of Nick Joaquin's Culture and History, because both Rushdie and Joaquin are supremely gifted, brutally honest writers who will irritate you and challenge your assumptions. I only wish Rushdie did away with Columns, or at least made that part shorter.

You really need to know who Salman Rushdie is and have some knowledge of his writings before tackling this. It's mainly for Rushdie fans only. Personally, I enjoy his non-fiction just as much (and sometimes more) than his fiction.

This is a diverse collection of articles, columns, book introductions, and speeches given during 1992 - 2002. The title of this book comes from the name of a lecture given months after 9/11. The very first selection, "The Wizard of Oz" was turned into it's own book, generously illustrated with photos, put out by the British Film Institute.

If you have no knowledge of the history and times Rushdie is talking about, then you're going to have problems. Since his native country is India, he does talk a lot about India and Pakistan. He was a British citizen for decades, so there is also plenty of commentary on the UK. He hadn't moved to America until 2000, so American-centered works are slim. The final part of the book is devoted art in America, urging artists to step into the frontier.

There were some selections I just couldnt get into, or found it was written for an audience other than someone like myself. I found a lot of tidbits I really liked, but others probably won't. They include:

* Rushdie likes Tom Waits!
* Rushdie hates Toto (the movie dog character, not the rock band)
* Rushdie reveals how much the British taxpayer actually paid for his police security and "safe houses" during his years spent mostly in hiding.
* Rushdie dedicated the book to Christopher Hitchens, who was one of the few commentators who spoke up for Rushdie right after the fatwa was announced. Most UK commentators, journalists and even other writers thought Rushdie deserved to be killed.
* Rushdie giving commentary on news just as it happened.

This is a collection of various Rushdie pieces, broadly about India, Islam, America and literary topics; through the fatwa years and after 9/11. The easy humor Rushdie finds in terrible times is disarming. The final essay about frontiers, with evocative passages on what it means to straddle frontiers with an unwanted passport, is poignant, as is the essay on his homecoming to India after the fatwa controversy cooled. With the benefit of hindsight, one often finds the cosmopolitan liberalism informing many of his articles collected here rather naive and proved wrong by events to come, but they are still compelling in their sincerity.

alternated between being really good and kinda 'eh'.

Read this and you'll see the world differently!