Salman Rushdie

His first novel, Grimus (1975), a part-science fiction tale, was generally ignored by the public and literary critics. His next novel, Midnight's Children (1981), however, catapulted him to literary fame. It also significantly shaped the course that Indian writing in English would follow over the next decade, and is regarded by many as one of the great books of the last 100 years. This work won the 1981 Booker Prize and, in 1993 and 2008, was awarded the Best of the Bookers as the best novel to have received the prize during its first 25 and 40 years respectively.[9] Midnight's Children has received numerous awards and been cited as Rushdie's best, most flowing and inspiring work.[citation needed] The story follows the life of a child born at the stroke of midnight as India gained its independence, who is endowed with special powers and a connection to other children born at the dawn of a new and tumultuous age the history of the Indian sub-continent and the birth of the modern nation of India. The character of Saleem Sinai has been compared to Rushdie himself.[10]

After Midnight's Children, Rushdie wrote Shame (1983), in which he depicts the political turmoil in Pakistan, basing his characters on Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq. Shame won France's Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger (Best Foreign Book) and was a close runner-up for the Booker Prize. Both these works of postcolonial literature are characterised by a style of magic realism and the immigrant outlook of which Rushdie is very conscious, as a member of the Indian diaspora.

Rushdie wrote a non-fiction book about Nicaragua in the 1980s, The Jaguar Smile (1987). The book has a political focus and is based on his first hand experiences and research at the scene of Sandinista political experiments. In an interview at San Francisco University promoting The Jaguar Smile, he advocated that students not write what they wanted to write[citation needed], but what they couldn't help but writing. He referenced a work in progress, that came out the following year, a project that would impact his life in ways he could never have expected.

His most controversial work, The Satanic Verses, was published in 1988 (see section below). Rushdie has published many short stories, including those collected in East, West (1994). The Moor's Last Sigh, a family epic ranging over some 100 years of India's history was published in 1995. The Ground Beneath Her Feet (1999) presents an alternative history of modern rock music. The song of the same name by U2 is one of many song lyrics included in the book, hence Rushdie is credited as the lyricist.
Salman Rushdie presenting his book Shalimar the Clown

Rushdie has had a string of commercially successful and critically acclaimed novels. His 2005 novel Shalimar the Clown received, in India, the prestigious Crossword Fiction Award, and was, in Britain, a finalist for the Whitbread Book Awards. It was shortlisted for the 2007 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.[11]

In his 2002 nonfiction collection Step Across This Line, he professes his admiration for the Italian writer Italo Calvino and the American writer Thomas Pynchon, among others. His early influences included James Joyce, Günter Grass, Jorge Luis Borges, Mikhail Bulgakov, and Lewis Carroll. Rushdie was also a personal friend of Angela Carter and praised her highly in the foreword for her collection "Burning your Boats."

The Satanic Verses controversy concerns Salman Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses. In particular it involves the novel's alleged blasphemy or unbelief; the 1989 fatwa issued by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini ordering Muslims to kill Rushdie; and the killings, attempted killings, and bombings that resulted from Muslim anger over the novel.

The controversy was notable for being the first time in modern times a government had publicly called for the killing of a private individual in a foreign country; and the first time that a book, or calls for a book's censorship, caused an international diplomatic crisis.

The issue divided "Muslim from Westerners along the fault line of culture", pitting the core Western value of freedom of expression - that no one "should be killed, or face a serious threat of being killed, for what they say or write" - against the core belief of many Muslims - that no one should be free to "insult and malign Muslims" by disparaging the "honour of the Prophet" Muhammad.

from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Satanic_Verses_controversy