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In August 2022, Salman Rushie took to the stage in Chautauqua, New York, to talk about the United States as a safe haven for writers. Before the audience settled in, an assailant appeared out of the sea of faces and stabbed him 14 times. This book chronicles the then-75-year-old Rushdie’s physical and emotional journey back from the ordeal.
Written with clear-eyed simplicity and thought-provoking philosophical asides, Knife is taut and captivating enough to read in a few sittings. It’s at times self-effacing and always honest-seeming—and erudite without being pedantic. It’s political only insofar as it’s impossible for someone with Rushdie’s history NOT to be political. Love or hate his books and his worldview, this is an example of a great writer writing very well after a half year of hell.