Knife - Salman Rushdie

Knife

By Salman Rushdie

  • Release Date: 2024-04-16
  • Genre: Biographies & Memoirs
Score: 4
4
From 104 Ratings

Description

NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • #1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From Booker Prize winner Salman Rushdie, a searing, deeply personal account of enduring—and surviving—an attempt on his life thirty years after the fatwa that was ordered against him

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, The New Yorker, Time, NPR, Town & Country, New York Post, Chicago Public Library, Kirkus Reviews

On the morning of August 12, 2022, Salman Rushdie was standing onstage at the Chautauqua Institution, 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 toward him, wielding a knife. His first thought: So it’s you. Here you are.

What followed was a horrific act of violence that shook the literary world and beyond. Now, for the first time, and in unforgettable detail, Rushdie relives the traumatic events of that day and its aftermath, as well as his journey toward 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 at the peak of his powers, writing with urgency, with gravity, with unflinching honesty. It is also a deeply moving reminder of literature’s capacity to make sense of the unthinkable, an intimate and life-affirming meditation on life, loss, love, art—and finding the strength to stand up again.

Reviews

  • Trauma therapy

    3
    By wynbee
    What a horrible thing to have happened, and amazing that Rushdie survived and recovered! However the book, as he admits, is basically self-therapy for his trauma. Seems like a good thing for the injured to write about trauma to overcome it - but it doesn’t seem to do much for the reader. While funny and caustic at times (classic Rushdie), it verges on self-importance, and the “title-dropping” is off-putting. But may he stay safe!
  • Worth It

    4
    By DFS44
    I liked this book, not least because it was short. An essay about how 27 seconds can both forever alter and not alter a life. Rushdie’s view of existence is worth reading. There are strong lines throughout. And, his humor is intact. You feel like you’re reading a great letter from a good friend.
  • Inspiring and so personal

    5
    By tdtunes
    This man’s bravery and optimism after all the challenges faced gives hope to me to face the inevitable End…however it comes, with Love. Wonderful book.

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