DUMBO—Salman Rushdie will be reading from his new novel, Joseph Anton: A Memoir at powerHouse Books in DUMBO in celebration of the book’s very recent launch.
Joseph Anton is the name Rushdie used during is nine years in hiding from Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini who issued a ‘fatwa’ calling for his death following the 1989 release of his book, The Satanic Verses, which many considered offensive to Islam.
Now close to 23 years later, Rushdie has released his account of those years, written in the third person. Released just two days ago, it has already received glowing reviews from several outlets including the New York Times and The New Yorker.
The release of Joesph Anton comes at a delicate time as violent protests break out in the Middle East over anti-Islamic short film, ‘The Innocence of Muslims.’
It was recently reported that “a semi-official religious foundation in Iran has increased a reward it had offered for the killing of British author Salman Rushdie to $3.3 million from $2.8 million,” according to CBSNews. Reportedly, the increased threat was issued because “If the fatwa had been carried out, later insults in the form of caricature, articles and films that have continued would have not happened.”
Rushdie has dismissed the threats saying "This was essentially one priest in Iran looking for a headline,” at Barnes & Noble in Manhattan Tuesday night.
Rushdie will discuss his memoir with New Yorker fiction editor Deborah Treisman at Powerhouse Wednesday night from 7-9 p.m. Tickets cost $35 and all ticketholders receive a signed copy of Joseph Anton. For more information of to buy ticekts online go here.
Rushdie’s Wednesday discussion is part of Brooklyn Book Festival's Bookends program. Other events include and exhibition and book launch of Adrian Tomine’s new book, New York Drawings on Thursday night and a reading by Jeffrey Eugenides from his book, The Marriage Plot, on Friday night. For a full list of Bookends events visit the Brooklyn Book Festival’s webpage.
