Interview Salman Rushdie Is Not Afraid
He thinks 'Game of Thrones' is dumb, bemoans the lack of good modern novels and believes terrorism is dying out; over 20 years after fleeing for his life from an Iranian-issued fatwa, novelist Salman Rushdie is still unafraid to speak his mind.
New York. One fine evening a few weeks ago, the writer Salman Rushdie walked, unattended by bodyguards, to the site of the 9/11 memorial. "It was very strange to walk into that space after ten years," the 64-year-old recalls as we sit in the offices of the Wiley literary agency in the center of New York. "I remember post-9/11, many journalists from all over saying to me, 'Ah, now we understand what happened to you.' And I responded, 'Really? That's what it took for you to take note?!' But in some way that was the moment at which these things, like the attack on 'The Satanic Verses' or the persecution of other people in different places, suddenly became a big thing."