“The road to recovery has begun,” Andrew Wylie, the agent, said in a text message. “It will be a long time. the injuries are serious, but his condition is moving in the right direction.” Mr Rushdie, who had spent decades under ban from Iran, was attacked on stage minutes before giving a speech at the Chautauqua Foundation in western New York. Hadi Matar, a 24-year-old New Jersey man, was arrested at the scene and charged with attempted second-degree murder and assault with a weapon. In court on Saturday, prosecutors said the attack on the author was premeditated and targeted. Mr. Matar traveled by bus to the spiritual retreat and bought a pass that allowed him to attend a speech that Mr. Rushdie was to give on Friday morning, according to prosecutors.
Salman Rushdie’s most influential work
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Salman Rushdie’s most influential work
“Midnight’s Children” (1981). Salman Rushdie’s second novel, about coming of age in modern India, won the Booker Prize and became an international success. The story narrates the life of Salim Sinai, who was born at the time of India’s independence.
Salman Rushdie’s most influential work
“The Satanic Verses” (1988). With its satirical depictions of the Prophet Muhammad, Mr. Rushdie’s fourth novel sparked an uproar that reverberated worldwide. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Iran’s supreme leader, considered the book blasphemous and issued a fatwa, or religious decree, urging Muslims to kill the author. Mr Rushdie then went into hiding for years.
Salman Rushdie’s most influential work
“The Moor’s Last Sigh” (1995). Mr. Rushdie’s next novel traced the downward spiral of expectations experienced by India as post-independence hopes for democracy collapsed during the Emergency declared by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1975.
Salman Rushdie’s most influential work
“Fury” (2001). Published after Mr. Rushdie moved to New York, this novel follows a doll maker named Malik who has recently arrived in the city after leaving his wife and child in London. Although Rushdie “inhabits his novels in all manner of guises and transformations, he was never so literally present as in this,” wrote a Times critic.
Salman Rushdie’s most influential work
“Joseph Anton” (2012). This memoir recounts Mr. Rushdie’s experiences after the fatwa was issued. The book was named after Mr. Rushdie’s pen name while in hiding, an amalgamation of the names of favorite authors — Joseph Conrad and Anton Chekhov. The book also examines Mr. Rushdie’s childhood (and particularly his alcoholic father), his marriages, and more. Nathaniel Barone, a public defender, entered a not guilty plea on his behalf. Mr. Matar was held without bail and his next court appearance is scheduled for Friday at 3 p.m. Mr. Rushdie had been placed on a ventilator the night he was attacked after undergoing surgery for hours at a hospital in Erie. in his hand they were cut. On Sunday, Mr. Rushdi’s son, Zafar Rushdi, said his father remained in critical condition and was receiving extensive treatment. He said the writer was able to say a few words. “Although his life-changing injuries are serious, his usual aggressive and defiant sense of humor remains intact,” Zafar Rushdie said in a statement. “We are so grateful to all the members of the public who bravely rushed to his defense and gave him first aid, along with the police and medics who attended to him and for the outpouring of love and support from around the world.” The attack took place at a center dedicated to learning and reflection. A TikTok video that has since been removed showed the chaotic scene moments after the attacker had jumped onto the scene at the normally calm institution. Mr. Rushdie, who lived relatively openly after years of semi-latent existence, had just taken a position to speak when a man attacked him. Crowds of people immediately rushed to where the author was lying on the stage to render aid. Stunned audience members could be seen throughout the auditorium. While some screamed, others got up and slowly walked towards the stage. People began to gather in the corridors. One person was heard repeatedly shouting “Oh, my God.” Security at the Chautauqua Foundation is minimal. There are no bag checks or metal detectors in its main auditorium, which regularly hosts popular music acts and celebrity speakers and where Mr Rushdie was scheduled to speak. Little is known about Mr Matar, the man accused of the attack. At a home listed as his residence in Fairview, NJ, there was a car in the driveway, but the shades were drawn and no one answered the door Sunday. Many of Mr. Matar’s neighbors said they did not know him or his family, although some residents, when shown a photo of him, said they recognized him as someone who would walk around the neighborhood with his head down, never visual contact. In Lebanon, the mayor of Yaroun, a village on the southern border with Israel, said that Mr. Matar’s father lived there and that the authorities had been trying to reach him without success. The father lives in a stone house in the center of the village and looks after herds of goats and sheep, said Mayor Ali Tehfe. “He refuses to see anyone or even open the door for us,” Mr. Tehfe said in a telephone interview, referring to Mr. Matar’s father. Mr Rushdie had been living under the threat of an assassination attempt since 1989, about six months after his novel The Satanic Verses was published. The book fictionalized parts of the Prophet Muhammad’s life with depictions that offended some Muslims who believed the novel was blasphemous. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who led Iran after its 1979 revolution, issued an edict known as a fatwa on February 14, 1989. He ordered Muslims to kill Mr. Rushdie. Hwaida Saad contributed reporting from Beirut and Olivia Bensimon from Fairview, NJ
