Books

RUSHDIE, Salman. The Satanic Verses (Signed) [together with] In Good Faith. London: Viking, 1988/ Granta, 1990 8vo., blue publisher s boards lettered in gilt to backstrip; together in the unclipped pictorial dustwrapper (�12.95 net); featuring an image from Rustam Killing the White Demon from the Victoria and Albert Museum; black and white photograph of the author to the lower panel; pp. [xii], 3-546, [iv]; a near-fine copy, the backstrip unfaded, unlike in many copies; one small scratch to upper panel of DJ, with very minor scuffing to the edges. [together with] In Good Faith : publisher s green card covers, stapled; printed in black; pp. [ii], 3-22, [ii]; a few small marks to lower cover, else fine. First edition, first impression, with full number line 1-10. This copy signed by Rushdie in black biro to the title page. An infamous novel, The Satanic Verses was Rushdie s fourth book, and was based on a group of Quranic verses about three pagan Meccan goddesses; Allāt, Al-Uzza, and Manāt. As with his other works, the style relies on a combination of magical realism and real-life events, with the central plot prolifically studded with a series of sub-plots narrated as visions from dreams. In the main narrative, the two protagonists board a plane hijacked by Sikh separatists, but when the bomb is detonated over the English channel, both survive, magically transformed into the archangel Gabriel and the devil, respectively. Perhaps the most striking of the subplots is that of Ayesha, who claims to be receiving revelations from the Archangel Gabriel and leads her village on a pilgrimage to the Arabian Sea. Shortlisted for the Booker Prize, The Satanic Verses also won the Whitbread Award for novel of the year, although it was quickly overshadowed by its controversy. In 1989, Supreme Leader of Iran Ruhollah Khomeini declared a fatwa against Rushdie, and the resulting assassination attempts led to the author being granted police protection by the UK government. In 1991, Japanese translator Hitoshi Igarashi was stabbed to death as a result of his association with the work, and assassination attempts continue today, with an attempt on Rushdie s life in August 2022 leading to him losing sight in one eye, as well as the use of one hand. The pamphlet included here, issued two years after the outrage, seeks to justify and defend The Satanic Verses. I feel as if I have been plunged, like Alice, into the world beyond the looking-glass , Rushdie writes, where nonsense is the only available sense. And I wonder if I ll ever be able to climb back through the mirror .

The Satanic Verses is Salman Rushdie's fourth novel, first published in 1988 and inspired in part by the life of Muhammad. It was met with significant controversy due to its portrayal of Islamic themes which led Rushdie to face death threats and a fatwa calling for his assassination.