Salman Rushdie Longlist Interview
24 September 2024
Knife
Meditations After an Attempted Murder
Salman Rushdie
On the morning of 12 August 2022, Salman Rushdie was standing onstage at the Chautauqua Institution in upstate New York, preparing to give a lecture on the importance of keeping writers safe from harm, when a man in black black clothes, black mask rushed down the aisle towards him, wielding a knife. His first thought: So its you. Here you are.
What followed was a horrific act of violence that shook the world. Now, for the first time, Rushdie relives the traumatic events of that day and its aftermath, as well as his journey towards physical recovery and the healing that was made possible by the love and support of his wife, Eliza, his family, his army of doctors and physical therapists, and his community of readers worldwide.
Knife is Rushdie writing with urgency, gravity, and unflinching honesty. It is also a deeply moving reminder of literatures capacity to make sense of the unthinkable.
A moving and life-affirming memoir about survival and the power of love to heal, from internationally renowned writer Salman Rushdie
This an intimate and life-affirming meditation on life, loss, love, art and finding the strength to stand up again.
- First published:
- 16/04/2024
- Published by:
- Vintage, Jonathan Cape
- Length:
- Hardcover 224 pages
What the judges said"Rushdie doesn’t back away from the knife attack that almost ended his life in 2022. Instead, he confronts it head on, with prose that is brutally clear, honest and, best of all, funny"
About the author
Salman Rushdie is the author of fifteen previous novels, including Midnight's Children (for which he won the Booker Prize and the Best of the Booker), The Satanic Verses, and Quichotte (which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize). A former president of PEN American Center, Rushdie was knighted in 2007 for services to literature and was made a Companion of Honour in the Queen's last Birthday Honours list in 2022.
