Johannes Eisele Afp | Getty Images Andrew Wylie’s agent said the writer could lose an eye after the attack, which also damaged his liver and severed nerves in an arm. Since then, the award-winning novelist came off the ventilator on Saturday and was able to speak again, according to Wylie. Rushdie faced more than 30 years of death threats and a $3 million bounty on his head for “The Satanic Verses.” Former Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for Rushdie’s death after the 1988 publication of The Satanic Verses, which some readers found blasphemous for its depiction of Islam. His other books, including “Midnight’s Children” and “Joseph Anton: A Memoir” had topped the Best Sellers list for Asia Myth & Legend and Religious Intolerance respectively, where the former had not previously cracked the top 50 last month. Police have not confirmed the motive of the person arrested after Rushdie was attacked.
