Sam Leith Sam Leith

To Salman Rushdie, a dream before his attempted murder ‘felt like a premonition’

Though premonitions are not things he believes in, Rushdie notes the many spooky coincidences surrounding the attack – which he describes in gripping, terrifying detail

Rushdie at the Frankfurt Book Fair last year. After the attack in 2022, he lost an eye and almost lost the use of his left hand. [Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/via Getty Images] 
issue 20 April 2024

Sam Leith has narrated this article for you to listen to.

Salman Rushdie has long hated and struggled against the idea that the 1989 fatwa pronounced on him after the publication of The Satanic Verses should define his career or his life. It was, as he frequently pointed out, a book he published only a quarter of the way through his career.

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