Rushdie memoir titled Joseph Anton

Indian- born British writer Salman Rushdie’s latest book about his experiences while in hiding after a fatwa was issued for his death over his book Satanic Verses is called Joseph Anton — A Memoir.

In February 1989, Iran’s then spiritual leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa against the 64- year- old writer, ordering Muslims to kill him because his book, The Satanic Verses , allegedly insulted Islam. The writer, who was awarded the knighthood in 2007 Queen’s birthday honours list, lived in hiding for almost a decade in Britain, using an assumed identity and constantly changing houses to prevent any attacks on his life. The autobiographical memoir by Sir Salman, who won Booker and Booker of the Bookers for Midnight’s Children , will be published on September 18, according to the publisher, Random House. The book was named Joseph Anton after the pseudonym he used while in hiding, which he had created by combining the names of two of his favourite writers, Joseph Conrad and Anton Chekov. “He thought of writers he loved and combinations of their names; then it came to him: Conrad and Chekhov — Joseph Anton,” the publisher said, and also described the book as “exceptionally frank and honest.

The memoir will focus on how he was “forced underground, moving from house to house, with the constant presence of an armed police protection team.” The autobiographical memoir will cover “how do a writer and his family live with the threat of murder for over nine years? How does he fall in and out of love? How does despair shape his thoughts and actions, how and why does he stumble, how does he learn to fight back?”