Joseph Anton

A Memoir

By: Salman Rushdie

Narrated by: Sam Dastor, Salman Rushdie

Length: 27 hrs

Publisher's summary

On February 14, 1989, Valentine's Day, Salman Rushdie was telephoned by a BBC journalist and told that he had been "sentenced to death" by the Ayatollah Khomeini. For the first time he heard the word fatwa. His crime? To have written a novel called The Satanic Verses, which was accused of being "against Islam, the Prophet and the Quran".

So begins the extraordinary story of how a writer was forced underground, moving from house to house, with the constant presence of an armed police protection team. He was asked to choose an alias that the police could call him by. He thought of writers he loved and combinations of their names; then it came to him: Conrad and Chekhov - Joseph Anton.

How do a writer and his family live with the threat of murder for more than nine years? How does he go on working? How does he fall in and out of love? How does despair shape his thoughts and actions, how and why does he stumble, how does he learn to fight back? In this remarkable memoir Rushdie tells that story for the first time; the story of one of the crucial battles, in our time, for freedom of speech. He talks about the sometimes grim, sometimes comic realities of living with armed policemen, and of the close bonds he formed with his protectors; of his struggle for support and understanding from governments, intelligence chiefs, publishers, journalists, and fellow writers; and of how he regained his freedom.

It is a book of exceptional frankness and honesty, compelling, provocative, moving, and of vital importance. Because what happened to Salman Rushdie was the first act of a drama that is still unfolding somewhere in the world every day.

This audiobook includes a prologue read by the author.

©2012 Salmon Rushdie (P)2012 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"In Salman Rushdie... India has produced a glittering novelist -one with startling imaginative and intellectual resources, a master of perpetual storytelling." ( The New Yorker)

"Salman Rushdie has earned the right to be called one of our great storytellers." ( The Observer)

"Our most exhilaratingly inventive prose stylist, a writer of breathtaking originality." ( Financial Times)

Gripping and Fantasical

Santanic Versea likely will be remembered as the most controversial book of the later half of 20th century for the shear amount of political controversy it illicited globally, worthy or not. But what happens when you write one of the the most controversial books of the century?

Joseph Anton has the answer. Salmon Rushdie, in 3rd person, meanders through his entire life. Taking moments to ponder, life, love, religion and family from pre-fatwa to post. His journey takes him from his life as Salmon and his alias, Joseph, used under police protection.

The story is one of preserveance, despite some of his own short comings... A story that has him bumping shoulders (or more accurately rubbed) by Margaret Thacter, chats with Bill Clinton, dinners with Tony Blair, friendships with Christopher Hitchens, and even Bono. Despite what might have been mistook as glamour and ego was a caged man, who was barely able to leave his own house and difficulties performing basic father tasks with his son.

While Salmon, drops names frequently, to the point of blurring into the ether, what remains is story with personal victory with plenty off tragedy. Only knowing Salmon from appearances in the media, I finally was motivated to read one of his works and settled for the one that interested me the most. Having been narrowly old enough to claim to lived through the entire 80s, many of the books earlier events served as a portrait of the confusion of multiculturalism and a global society in a time I lived through but was not old enough to have meaningful comprehension. The extent of Iran's treachery even given today's misgivings is shocking, the British lack of desire to defend its own citizens is surprising and the global Islamophobia pandemic is current.

Salmon is a harsh judge of himself but also holds himself with regard, likely the same dignity that kept him sane. I enjoyed this book immensely, as Rushdie is passionate, insightful, and charasmatic.

Important book!

Ok, will you "like" this book? Not necessarily but you will be glad you read it. It explores the years and years of Salmon Rushdie's life while he was in hiding from the fatwa. It goes on and on, and he does not hide the truth: he is not a martyr or a perfect man, he is just a writer who crossed he Wrong people. Do you believe in religious fanaticism? Do you know the prequel to 9-11 ? Please take the time to listen to this and think about these very life and death matters.

Loved the humor

Slow start but it grew on me. My favorite parts were the ironical ones. Highly recommend.

Great

The story is phenomenal. Very few autobiographies are so great. Took two days to finish the book.

Really surprised I enjoyed it this much.

I would rate this in the top 10 out of the 75 books I have listened to. The narrator was excellent - switching into different voices that were very entertaining. Rushdie's writing was very smooth and enjoyable. Satanic Verses is next on my list to listen to.

Way to go Joe... :)

This is a very good solid work and reading.

What did you love best about Joseph Anton?

This is the story of one man's fight to stay alive. He did nothing but tell stories and found himself in the middle of a storm that no person should have to face in an age well past the "Age of Enlightenment."

What was one of the most memorable moments of Joseph Anton?

Most memorable in this work was the history of Salman's struggle with the consequences of writing a novel. The evil forces in the world and how organized religion has no place in the world of free speech was in this work, put on a plate for examination.

Which scene was your favorite?

The entire book is a history of the attack on free speech in the 20th and 21st century.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The man and those around him faced true hardship but carried and how Salman was so very honest about his behavior in the face of unbelievable attacks.

Any additional comments?

This a great followup to questions which remain and persist on where we stand as free loving western people against the forces of darkness.

Informative, Timely

Salman Rushdie is known for his fiction (Shame, The Moor’s Last Sigh and others), but it was The Satanic Verses which forced him into hiding and police protection. His memoir, Joseph Anton: A Memoir, tells the story of his life with particular focus on his experience following the publication of that book. Frankly, I have never finished any of Rushdie’s works of fiction and parts of this book I had to work through as well. However, the effort was well worth it because of the insights he provides into why he was forced to go underground, the full defense of his book and its literary origins, and how he finally was able to get back a modicum of normalcy. Readers also learn what it was like on a day-to-day basis to deal with living under full-time protection and what it meant to his family, career, and self-image. The book has, for me, more detail and repetition than necessary, but the emotional effect was profound. I began to identify with Rushdie and the frustrations he faced. Rushdie uses third person to tell his story, but I’ll not give away why the book is titled Joseph Anton: A Memoir. If you have an interest in what happened to Rushdie, his take on why it happened, and who Rushdie became as a result – this book is for you. A key learning? Life is not linear and circumstances will change with time – good times can turn bad; bad days may well pass from view. The narration of Rushdie and Sam Dastor is very good.

Excellent Memoir of the Fatwa years.

Excellent memoir of the fatwa years. Two things struck me about this book. First, life was predicably miserable while he was under the protection of MI5 for more than a decade after the flare-up with the Satanic Verses. Second, and most fascinating, is the support that he got from his network of author friends. Rusdie mentions at least 2 dozen authors from the second half of the last century who provided safe houses, letters of support, and more. Who knew that winning the Booker Prize (for Midnight's Children) put one in such an exclusive club.

While the book is a quick read, it could have been shorter. I would have cut out a lot of the difficulties he had with his teenage son. I know I'd hate to have my own adolescent awkwardness set down for history. Narrated dutifully by Sam Dastor (whose American accents, sadly, were laughable).

Excellent, mortifying story

I loved this whole book and, as a non-fiction author not nearly as gifted or smart as Rushdie, I highly recommend. Rushdie went through what no human should have to for speaking his mind. Besides being a brilliant engaging memoir, this story and Rushdie's enormously articulate rendering of it, stand as a reminder of the importance of freedom of speech to our humanity.

Rushdie reads prologue, a professional reader, the rest. The reader does a terrible American accent and an especially bad American female accent/falsetto, but is otherwise quite good.

A good thing because this is long! But I was sorry when it was over.

I'd like to add my thanks along with the author's to everyone who helped this writer through the nightmare and I'm hoping he can have a more normal life and keep writing great books and be the fullest artist that he can be.

Fabulous narrator!!!

What about Sam Dastor and Salman Rushdie ’s performance did you like?

I wish there were extra stars to give the performance of this book. Dastor didn't just narrate the book, he interpreted it. Of all the books I have downloaded from Audible, this was by far the finest performance of any book. It was incredible.

Also, the book was really good too. Helps to have great material to work with. I was impressed with the warts-and-all honesty of the story. I don't think I would want to air all my secrets and lies and emotions during my biggest life's challenge. Not many people would, I expect. But Rushdie did, with admirable candor. I supported his cause and an thrilled he was able to get his freedom back. It's a travesty that it took 11 years to do so.