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Knife

Meditations After an Attempted Murder

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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

From internationally renowned writer and 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

Speaking out for the first time, and in unforgettable detail, about the traumatic events of August 12, 2022, Salman Rushdie answers violence with art, and reminds us of the power of words to make sense of the unthinkable. Knife is a gripping, intimate, and ultimately life-affirming meditation on life, loss, love, art - and finding the strength to stand up again.

©2024 Salman Rushdie (P)2024 Penguin Audio

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Critic reviews

It is an absolutely stunning piece of writing: the ugliest thing turned into the most beautiful. No words of mine can do it justice. But I do have to say that it’s such a profound love story, too. (Nigella Lawson)
Salman Rushdie’s memoir is horrific, upsetting – and a masterpiece… Knife is a tour-de-force, in which the great novelist takes his brutal near-murder and spins it into a majestic essay on art, pain and love…full of Rushdie’s wit, his wisdom, his stoicism, his optimism, his love of all culture from the so-called “high” to the so-called “low”. (Erica Wagner)
Knife is a rich, immersive, feisty account of [Rushdie's] journey through darkness back to the light. Part thriller, part love story, part celebration of literature, it’s an incandescent book full of hair-raising descriptions of hard-won survival and beautiful, philosophical passages about art, freedom and resilience…Rushdie has not just enlarged literature’s capacities, he has expanded the world’s imaginative possibilities — and he has paid a tremendous price for it. We owe him a huge debt of gratitude. (Johanna Thomas Corr)
Rushdie’s triumph is not to be other: despite his terrible injuries and the threat he still lives under, he remains incorrigibly himself, as passionate as ever about art and free speech... At one point he quotes Martin Amis: “When you publish a book, you either get away with it, or you don’t.” He has more than got away with this one. It’s scary but heartwarming, a story of hatred defeated by love. (Blake Morrison)
With both candour and rich detail, and reminding us again of his knack for storytelling, Knife celebrates art and love over violence, resilience over acquiescence
Knife is a clarifying book. It reminds us of the threats the free world faces. It reminds us of the things worth fighting for. Rushdie’s friend Christopher Hitchens, in the wake of the initial fatwa, eloquently explained the stakes. The affair drew a line between “everything I hated versus everything I loved,” he wrote. “In the hate column: dictatorship, religion, stupidity, demagogy, censorship, bullying and intimidation. In the love column: literature, irony, humor, the individual and the defense of free expression.” His words apply to this book.
Although the account of his violent ordeal is dramatic…the book is also a nuanced meditation on life, death, the importance of art, and the chilling daily reality of violence... the book fulfils his aim to take charge of what happened on that terrible day and “to answer violence with art" (Martin Chilton)
All stars
Most relevant
A lucid gaze not only into the effects - physical and emotional- of this horrific attack but also a reflection on the A, the attacker, and the culture that spawned him. It is a relief and a joy to know that Salman has not been diminished by it, in spite of the obvious physical wounds. Thank you for reading this yourself Salman. Be happy.

Honest, moving, painful

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Amazing book so happy Salman survived that evil attack his story is so inspiring love live sir Salman

Great book

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I purchased this book with some trepidation given the only thing I knew about the author was his infamy regarding Satanic Verses, I was genuinely blown away with the way Salman delivered what is ultimately a horrific situation in such a beautiful way. This is a book you will not want to miss.

Just brilliant!

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I liked the language he has used. it is also funny. I think he is funny in general. I also like the way he looks at the extremist attacker. it is not with putty or any justification but also at the end through the conversation with him somehow explaining it to himself and to us. why do people might do such thing...

well written and moving

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A personal and insightful exploration on life and faith. Rushdie effectively takes us through his experience of confronting death and his evolving thoughts on life and theology. Peppered with unexpected cultural references.

Raw and cathartic

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