Is Nothing Sacred?

by Salman Rushdie

Written as a response to Fundamentalism

Genres: Nonfiction, School, Essays

16 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie is an Indian-born British and American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and Western civilizations, typically set on the Indian subcontinent. Rushdie's second novel, Midnight's Children (1981), won the Booker Prize in 1981 and was deemed to be "the best novel of all winners" on two occasions, marking the 25th and the 40th anniversary of the prize.
After his fourth novel, The Satanic Verses (1988), Rushdie became the subject of several assassination attempts and death threats, including a fatwa calling for his death issued by Ruhollah Khomeini, the supreme leader of Iran. In total, 20 countries banned the book. Numerous killings and bombings have been carried out by extremists who cite the book as motivation, sparking a debate about censorship and religiously motivated violence. In 2022, Rushdie survived a stabbing at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York.
In 1983, Rushdie was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He was appointed a Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France in 1999. Rushdie was knighted in 2007 for his services to literature. In 2008, The Times ranked him 13th on its list of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945. Since 2000, Rushdie has lived in the United States. He was named Distinguished Writer in Residence at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute of New York University in 2015. Earlier, he taught at Emory University. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 2012, he published Joseph Anton: A Memoir, an account of his life in the wake of the events following The Satanic Verses. Rushdie was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in April 2023.
Rushdie's personal life, including his five marriages and four divorces, has attracted notable media attention and controversies, particularly during his marriage to actress Padma Lakshmi.

Reviews

[Marcus]

In the face of a Fatwa, Rushdie had Harold Pinter deliver this speech. He asserts that the novel is a sacred beacon of free speech and creativity. Is that still true of self expression and publishing in 2021?

[Astha Khare]

Wow! Did I just realize that my thought process is totally in sync with the greatest writer of the post-modern era?

Awesome. :)

[Kate Goodrum]

I absolutely love this lecture and thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I used some of it on my personal statement, focusing on the idea regarding literature as a "third principle" and relating it to my interpretations of texts and staged performances that I have read and seen. I will definitely re-read this again and again.

[Katherine Elizabeth]

I have to write an assignment on this and have no clue what to write...

[abby murrill]

BRIT LIT II. help im literally so confused. im thinking so hard that my head hurts. i do feel bad for the guy though- no author should have to go into hiding for their own ideas

[K]

Art seems to be the answer for the author. It's the best he can do.

[polina]

this was a pretty crazy choice from my english teacher but infuvking loved it and salman rushdie should be knighted lowk

[Janusz]

prep reading for introductory Evergreen seminar. knew nothing about Rushdie other than "author of The Satanic Verses and target of fatwa"...

[Basim Mahmoud]

عاوز أترجمها هما خمستلاف كلمة بس تقريبا، أهو نفهم هو عاوز إيه ف دنيته دا، المشكلة إن الخليج عنده عداء مع سلمان رشدي و له الحق معلش
:D