October 12, 2005 | Salman Rushdie | Test for East and West
The work room of the writer Orhan Pamuk looks out over the Bosphorus, that fabled strip of water which, depending on how you see these things, separates or unites—or,… More
What I Heard About Iraq
I heard that Saddam Hussein, in solitary confinement, was spending his time writing poetry, reading the Koran, eating cookies and muffins, and taking care of some bushes and shrubs. More
The Pen and the Sword
In January 1986 I came to New York for a gathering of writers that has become a literary legend. The 48th Congress of International PEN, the global writers' organization… More
Books vs. Goons
A butterfly flaps its wings in India, and we feel the breeze on our cheeks here in New York. A throat is cleared somewhere in Africa and in California… More
Money Can’t Buy Us Democracy
Tehran, Iran--In February, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice asked Congress for $75 million to help Iran's democratic opposition. In Iran , her request was widely discussed in the… More
Contraband
Our digital clocks are now contraband. But if your old digital clock has a radio in it, then it’s not contraband. The new replacement clocks the canteen now sells… More
Confronting the Worst: Writing & Catastrophe
Listen.I’d like to remember the great Chekhov and his play Three Sisters. The main character in that play says over and over, “Now life is terrible, we live in… More
The Way We Love Now: Antoine Audouard
“The way we love now.” I mean, who is “we”? Emily Dickinson: “That love is all there is, is all we know of love.” Okay? That pretty well does… More
The Way We Love Now: Meir Shalev
When we talk about love, it’s part of an international conspiracy: Writers know something about love that readers do not. The same way rabbis and priests and imams know… More
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