Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • #1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From Booker Prize winner Salman Rushdie, a searing, deeply personal account of enduring—and surviving—an attempt on his life thirty years after the fatwa that was ordered against him
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, The New Yorker, Time, NPR, Town & Country, New York Post, Chicago Public Library, Kirkus Reviews
On the morning of August 12, 2022, Salman Rushdie was standing onstage at the Chautauqua Institution, preparing to give a lecture on the importance of keeping writers safe from harm, when a man in black—black clothes, black mask—rushed down the aisle toward him, wielding a knife. His first thought: So it’s you. Here you are.
What followed was a horrific act of violence that shook the literary world and beyond. Now, for the first time, and in unforgettable detail, Rushdie relives the traumatic events of that day and its aftermath, as well as his journey toward physical recovery and the healing that was made possible by the love and support of his wife, Eliza, his family, his army of doctors and physical therapists, and his community of readers worldwide.
Knife is Rushdie at the peak of his powers, writing with urgency, with gravity, with unflinching honesty. It is also a deeply moving reminder of literature’s capacity to make sense of the unthinkable, an intimate and life-affirming meditation on life, loss, love, art—and finding the strength to stand up again.
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, The New Yorker, Time, NPR, Town & Country, New York Post, Chicago Public Library, Kirkus Reviews
On the morning of August 12, 2022, Salman Rushdie was standing onstage at the Chautauqua Institution, preparing to give a lecture on the importance of keeping writers safe from harm, when a man in black—black clothes, black mask—rushed down the aisle toward him, wielding a knife. His first thought: So it’s you. Here you are.
What followed was a horrific act of violence that shook the literary world and beyond. Now, for the first time, and in unforgettable detail, Rushdie relives the traumatic events of that day and its aftermath, as well as his journey toward physical recovery and the healing that was made possible by the love and support of his wife, Eliza, his family, his army of doctors and physical therapists, and his community of readers worldwide.
Knife is Rushdie at the peak of his powers, writing with urgency, with gravity, with unflinching honesty. It is also a deeply moving reminder of literature’s capacity to make sense of the unthinkable, an intimate and life-affirming meditation on life, loss, love, art—and finding the strength to stand up again.
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Community Reviews
My book club had a great conversation re KNIFE: Meditations after an Attempted Murder, Salmon Rushdie's memoir about being stabbed almost to death just as he was about to give a speech on the importance of protecting artists from various kinds of harm. (Irony much?)
Plot in brief:
- Having just finished his novel VICTORY CITY, Rushdie is attacked as a result of the 30+ years ago fatwa issued after his novel THE SATANIC VERSES was deemed an offense to Islam.
- His injuries include deep wounds to his hand, chest, neck, liver, "and then there was the knife in the eye. That was the cruelest blow."
- Rushdie endures multiple surgeries and months of physical therapy, supported by his family and friends, especially other well known authors who did PR events to help launch VICTORY CITY.
- Rushdie struggles with PTSD and imagines a conversation with the 24-yr-old attacker -- "The A" (ass) -- a dude from NJ who was radicalized during a trip to Lebanon.
- Rushdie and his wife go back to the auditorium where he was attacked, seeking closure and coming to the conclusion that closure maybe isn't really a thing. And he finally gets to give his talk on the safekeeping of artists: "Art is not a luxury. It stands at the essence of our humanity, and it asks for no special protection except the right to exist.”
Themes we discussed:
- What we risk as artists making ourselves emotionally and sometimes physically vulnerable and why it's worth it.
- The healing power of writing a memoir.
- Love in general but specifically his relationship with his wife. (We couldn't help but note that she is his 5th wife and 32 years younger than him.)
- Rushdie writes from an undeniable POV of massive literary privilege and seems quite full of himself at times. We were evenly divided on whether this book made us want to read more (or any) of his fiction.
- We were also divided on the way he writes an imaginary conversation with The A, whom he has never confronted in court. (It keeps getting postponed because Matar accepts and then rejects repeated plea bargain attempts.) Some felt this was powerful because of the many great lines in it; others felt it smacks of the kind of dialogue that takes over your brain when you're stuck in that "what I shoulda said" think-loop. (I have to work hard to stop that intrusive l'esprit de l'escalier sh*t, so I get it.)
- We couldn't help seeing the parallels between what he's saying about his own experience and the responsibility of artists in conflicted times, specifically the rising tide of authoritarianism and theocracy in the US and abroad: "We are engaged in a world war of stories -- a war between incompatible versions of reality -- and we need to learn how to fight it."
Overall, most of us liked this book for it's tremendously good writing and important ideas.
This was my first interaction with Rushdie. I have to say I loved his prose. He has a way with words that made me want to pick up any of his other books, and keep going. He is able to quote from the deep and obscure all the way to Groucho Marx.
I found the first half of the book engaging like a great novel. The first-person narration of the experience might as well be a movie script! His meditation on "knives" was simply brilliant.
The second half was a lot less sharp (pun, yes), for me. When he diverts into the political I found it distracting and unoriginal, somewhat preachy. It was a bit of a disappointing surprise, after the cutting (another pun, yes) wit and penetrating (sorry) explorations. The conversation with "the A." was sluggish. But the second half finishes in a flurry of philosophical reflections that fill our chests with hope for the time each of us has left on this planet.
Overall, it is a wonderful read from a very important and brave voice.
The highlight of this memoir that centers on Rushdie's 2022 stabbing and recovery is when he imagines a dialogue between himself and his would-be assassin. That was the absolute marrow of the bone in this slim volume.
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