Joseph Anton: A Memoir

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.

Joseph Anton is Rushdie's memoir of the years he spent, mostly in hiding, under the Ayatollah Khomeini's fatwa. The fatwa, which was announced on Valentine's Day, 1989, has never been officially revoked; in 1998, the Iranian government proclaimed that it would neither support nor hinder attempts to assassinate the author, but there is still a $3 million-plus bounty on his head. The title of the book is the name Rushdie assumed while in Scotland Yard's protection and is taken from two of his favorite writers: "Joseph" from Conrad and "Anton" from Chekhov. In a recent interview, Rushdie claimed that during this time he felt as if he was watching another person's life from a distance, a person separate from himself--hence the book is written in third person.

It's hard to imagine what life would be like if you were forced to move at a moment's notice--dozens of times. To live with a squad of armed policemen (one of whom accidentally blew a hole through a wall). To be unable to visit a dying parent, have dinner with friends, attend a memorial or an activity at your child's school, or, as a writer, give public readings of your work. Rushdie details all of this, as well as his efforts to live as normal a life as possible. For this, he credits a cadre of trusted friends, including Christopher Hitchens, Paul Auster, Bill Buford, Martin Amis, Ian McEwan, and Bono, among others. Rushdie also engaged in a constant legal battle to get The Satanic Verses distributed worldwide in paperback format.

Of course, Rushdie's personal life suffered during this time. His greatest regret is the difficulty the fatwa caused for his son Zafar, who was 10 at the time it all began. Although divorced from his first wife, Clarissa Luard, the two remained friendly and strove to maintain as normal a relationship as possible for father and son. Marianne Wiggins, his second wife, to whom he was married when the fatwa was pronounced, does not come off so well; in fact, the American writer is depicted as a selfish, self-promoting wacko. Rushdie met his third wife, Elizabeth West, the mother of his second son, while under protection. Initially, West seems almost saint-like in her patience and devotion, but this image falls apart as the marriage falters due to her depression over not bearing more children and Rushdie's desire to move to the US, where he felt he could live a more open, normal life. Wife Number Four, model, would-be actress, and reality show host Padma Lakshmi,is referred to as "The Illusion," and Rushdie rather shamefacedly admits to falling into a fairly typical mid-life crisis (homely older man, beautiful younger woman), as well as pursuing a somewhat elusive American dream that she came to represent. Lakshmi, like Wiggins, comes off as self-absorbed and ambitious (when he attempts to visit her in LA after a new threat has been announced, she says she is going on a lingerie shoot), and Rushdie makes short shrift of her.

On the whole, Rushdie's memoir is insightful and engaging. If one thing is made clear, it is that he wouldn't have endured, had it not been for the love, help, and encouragement of his close friends, family, and associates. And it is this humanization of Salman Rushdie, more than his literary achievements or politicized position, that allows readers to relate to his plight.

The reader, Sam Dastoor, was brilliant, with one caveat: his American accent, which never varied. Whether he was impersonating Bill Clinton, Kurt Vonnegut, George Stephanopoulos, or Susan Sontag, they all sounded like sarcastic cowboys.

What a disappointment. I love most of Salman Rushdie's work, but I gave up on this one after the first of the four parts. It was like listening to the journal of a petulant, star-struck wanna-be, with all the boring details left in--what he ate; when he was sick; where he went for vacation; blah blah blah--interspersed with bragging about the famous people he met and sniping at the ones he felt slighted by. I just couldn't take 20 more hours of it. I guess he has become too famous and self-important to allow a good editor to take a scalpel to his writing and trim out the dross.

Rushdie is a brilliant author (mainly novelist) and it’s a rare treat to read a memoir by someone who writes so well.

I hesitated to review this book because my prose pale in comparison to those of Salman Rushdie. But this is such an extraordinary work that I feel compelled to share my opinion, even if clumsily. “Joseph Anton” is the story behind the story for those of us old enough to remember what happened. And for younger people, or anyone who cares about our constitutionally granted freedom of expression, it’s an important reminder of how easily that right can be taken away.

The memoir is often thrilling, insightful, and beautiful--all the things you'd expect from Salman Rushdie. He is at his best considering the implications of the fatwa, and the larger questions of the artist's role of the documentarian in cultures both hostile and indifferent to art. Rushdie's thoughts on his own work, the origin and inspiration for his novels, are equally intriguing. He is less objective, of course, about his personal life and the narrative sags when he considers the emotional strains on his marriages and his pop-culture "successes" (particularly when they collide in his last marriage; and his association with the Famous Rock Band).

The narrator of this audiobook, when performing the "dialogue" of American "characters," affected such a strange "accent"- - snide parody - - not at all what I experienced on the page when reading and not listening. Was this an actor's choice? Director's? Did this audiobook have a director? In any case, it snapped me out of the dream of this memorable and fascinating story each time the narrator switch from his sophisticated, Euro-Indian accent to the "Valley Girl/hillbilly" American grunt.

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.

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).

I fell in love with Rushdie's work when I was a 17-year-old freshman at college. My most difficult class was a junior level course called Modern Studies which required me to read 13 novels in 12 weeks. The first on the long list was Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories. I fell instantly and completely in love. That novel remains on my high atop my list of favorite (and most recommended) books of all-time, and I even fought to include it when I became a teacher myself, many years later.

I devoured Rushdie's bibliography over a number of years. As a teacher, I also researched his personal story and biographical materials. I was fascinated by him as a man, and continued to read his essays and writings as he continued to write.

This novel finally lifted the veil and gave the the story of Rushdie's fatwa from his own mouth. And it is just as interesting as I thought it would be. History buffs and lovers of literature will find the story compelling. Those interested in reading about the struggles of artists under the oppression of religious regimes for free speech would be equally engaged. However, it is worth mentioning that I do believe my background in Rushdie's work helped to ground me as I listen to this title. I am not sure how the experience would differ if I had not had that prior knowledge.

All together, this book is one I continue to recommend to friends who read non-fiction titles.

And, while you are at it, go select Haroun and the Sea of Stories and Midnight's Children as well. Rushdie does not disappoint.

Make it shorter by about half. To me, it was necessary to describe every meeting he had during the years he was hiding from his death sentence. It was too much of almost the same things over and over again. A thick book does not make a better book.

Possibly. I think he is very gifted with words. I would not listen to anything that had to do with his personal struggle that was going to be described day-by-day and almost minute-by-minute.

Not sure but if I had a favorite part it would have been in the first book.

I was definitely convinced to not write about the Taliban but to learn all that I could about the religious based system that had the power to basically ruin years of his life.

The writer's use of language is sublime. The story itself is fascinating. It is the story we all thought we knew but never really did. Strongly recommended.There are only two flaws and they are both minor. Sam Dastor is a joy to listen to. The only problem that I had was his attempt at an American accent. Men, women, children--it was the exact same voice. That became a little distracting, especially when the person speaking is someone famous with a voice we all know. The minor other fault is in the writing. I got a sense that the author tried very hard to be fair to everyone and to note his biases up front. Given what happened to him that seems heroic. That said, there are a few instances where he attempts to indicate that all is forgiven but you get a sense that the exact opposite is true and perhaps the author isn't aware of it. Again, a minor flaw. On the whole the fact that he is able to tell this story without rage is truly amazing.