{"product_id":"book-atz3","title":"Joseph Anton","description":"On February 14, 1989, Valentine’s Day, Salman Rushdie was telephoned by a   BBC journalist and told that he had been “sentenced to death” by the   Ayatollah Khomeini. For the first time he heard the word \u003ci\u003efatwa\u003c\/i\u003e. His crime? To have written a novel called \u003ci\u003eThe Satanic Verses,\u003c\/i\u003e which was accused of being “against Islam, the Prophet and the Quran.”\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e So begins the extraordinary story of how a writer was forced   underground, moving from house to house, with the constant presence of   an armed police protection team. He was asked to choose an alias that   the police could call him by. He thought of writers he loved and   combinations of their names; then it came to him: Conrad and Chekhov—\u003ci\u003eJoseph Anton.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e How do a writer and his family live with the threat of murder for more   than nine years? How does he go on working? 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? In this remarkable   memoir Rushdie tells that story for the first time; the story of one of   the crucial battles, in our time, for freedom of speech. He talks about   the sometimes grim, sometimes comic realities of living with armed   policemen, and of the close bonds he formed with his protectors; of his   struggle for support and understanding from governments, intelligence   chiefs, publishers, journalists, and fellow writers; and of how he   regained his freedom.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e It is a book of exceptional frankness   and honesty, compelling, provocative, moving, and of vital importance.   Because what happened to Salman Rushdie was the first act of a drama   that is still unfolding somewhere in the world every day.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eIncludes a prologue read by the Author.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePraise for Salman Rushdie\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “In Salman Rushdie . . . India has produced a glittering novelist—one   with startling imaginative and intellectual resources, a master of   perpetual storytelling.”—\u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Salman Rushdie has earned the right to be called one of our great storytellers.”—\u003ci\u003eThe Observer\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Our most exhilaratingly inventive prose stylist, a writer of breathtaking originality.”—\u003ci\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/i\u003ee prose stylist, a writer of breathtaking originality.”—\u003ci\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House","offers":[{"title":"Audiobook","offer_id":49337821593904,"sku":"BDatz3","price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0879\/2784\/9264\/files\/210869-atz3-Square.jpg?v=1733979317","url":"https:\/\/downpour.com\/products\/book-atz3","provider":"Downpour","version":"1.0","type":"link"}