The last nominee was unveiled at the LBC site on Friday: Nadeem Aslam’s lyrical and disturbing novel, Maps for Lost Lovers. This week, LBC members Dan and Derik are having a conversation about the merits of Steve Stern’s The Angel of Forgetfulness.
The Levantine Cultural Center, a Los Angeles-based organization that brings together people of American, Middle-Eastern and Mediterranean heritage to explore the arts, has a history of putting together amazing events. This year alone, they’ve staged a major rai concert, showings of films like Lila Says, poetry readings by Nathalie Handal and Sholeh Wolpe, plays like Nine Parts of Desire, and much else.
But the center has run into some financial trouble. The staff is made up exclusively of volunteers, but they still need to be able to cover rent and program costs. If you are able to contribute, consider making a donation.
More news about illegal crossings from Morocco to Spain. This time, the police have detained 1,152 illegal immigrants, the majority of whom hail from sub-Saharan countries. Reuters quotes estimates of half a million people trying to immigrate to Europe from Africa each year.
The inaugural Frank O’Connor award, which is the largest prize honoring short story collections, has been given to Yiyun Li for A Thousand Years of Good Prayers. Li also pens a personal essay for the New York Times about the time she spent being re-educated in the Chinese army.
Here’s a report on the anti-war protests in Washington last weekend. Note that, in the Post article, you can see some photos of the 150,000 thousand people who protested, intermingled with apparently an equal number of photos of the 400 people who staged the pro-war demonstration.
In other war news, the Guardian has a piece on an ex-Guantanamo detainee who alleges he was promised U.S. citizenship, job training, a job, and a book deal, if he would spy on news channel Al-Jazeera.
Before driving downtown to meet Salman Rushdie on Friday, I’d set a bunch of rules for myself. Do not mention the f-word. The man deserves a break from the fatwa. Do not mention the p-word. Yes, his wife is a model. So what? Do not ask him to sign his book. This is an interview, not a reading. Do not take his photograph. Leave that to the professionals. And, of course, do not, under any circumstances, talk about your book or your blog; it’s crass, and it’s probably not the least bit interesting to him.
I had these rules very clearly in mind when I arrived at the hotel to meet him. I was met by his escort, who informed me, while we waited for him by the elevator: “Salman likes your blog.”
“What?” I was taken aback, but, hey, I thought, get over yourself. Lots of people read your blog. Big deal. For all you know, he might have been Googling himself and found one of your million references to his book. (For instance, I’d reviewed Shalimar the Clown for The Oregonian, and liked it.)
The elevator doors opened then, and out came Salman Rushdie, in blue jeans and button-down shirt, looking, well, like one might expect him to look like on a book tour. Seemingly relaxed, but a bit tired. The escort introduced us. “How do you do?” we said to one another. That’s when I noticed he had my book in his hands.
“You have my book!” I cried, rather stupidly.
“Oh yes,” he said with a grin. “I know all about you.”
This wouldn’t do. Not at all. I told him all about my rules, and the special corollary about my book. He laughed, and then explained that he’d been given a copy of Hope by a bookseller on his previous stop, in Seattle. Earlier in the day, when he arrived in Portland, another bookseller gave him a second copy, so he figured he’d take it. “You’re going to have to sign it,” he added.
Okay, cue the theme music for The Twilight Zone. Was I trapped in some alternate universe? Did Salman Rushdie just ask me for my fucking autograph? “I don’t know if I could,” I mumbled.
We went up to the second floor of the hotel, to a quiet meeting room with louvered windows. He ordered a coffee and I took out my notes. I had several pages of them; there was so much I wanted to ask him. To find out what the interview was like, you’ll have to read The Oregonian next Sunday, but suffice it to say that he was a consummate conversationalist, quite candid, and very funny. Here are a few snippets to whet your appetite:
On Shalimar the Clown: “It’s my first village novel.”
On the book he most enjoyed reading recently: Beasts of No Nation by Uzodinma Iweala.
On young, male, Indian writers who’ve been ripping his work recently: “They’re always saying: Move on Granddad.”
On those who say that it’s impossible to write fiction after 9/11: “It’s like saying you can’t paint after 9/11.”
On how he feels about being asked to predict the future of Islam: “I resist it. I’m no good at prophecy.”
The reading itself took place at the First Unitarian Church in downtown Portland. The line went around the block, but we managed to get good seats (media privileges, don’t you know.) There were about six hundred people in the audience. I don’t think I’ve ever been to such a large reading.
Rushdie read several excerpts from Shalimar the Clown: A little passage about Pachigam (the ‘paradise’ of the book), Boonyi and Shalimar’s first tryst (Adam and Eve, meet your apple), a scene with Max in Los Angeles, a little internal monologue on the Indian colonel, and finally the arrival of the Iron Mullah in Shirmal (the snakes in the paradise). He was asked only one question about the fatwa, and he joked, “Thanks for asking this question-I haven’t heard that one before.”
He was asked about his use of English and whether he could write a novel in Urdu. He replied that his command of written Urdu is just not as good anymore. He’s tried to use English in a way that would render the rhythms of the languages spoken in India (Urdu, Hindi, and others, sometimes by the same people, sometimes within the same sentence.) If he were writing in Urdu, he wouldn’t do the same sorts of things with language he’s done in English.
Rushdie was asked whether he thought any of his books could be made into a good movie. “I certainly hope so, but at this point not even a bad one’s been made.” There were a couple of theatrical adaptations (Haroun and the Sea of Stories, and Midnight’s Children) so he thinks there’s potential for film adaptations as well.
Another person asked, “When are you going on the Jon Stewart show?” His reply: “I don’t know.” It would certainly make for an interesting interview.
Speaking of which, I must now go and transcribe the tape. Look for the article in The Oregonian sometime this week or next.
I went to Powell’s yesterday to pick up a gift for a friend, and, there, in the lobby, were copies of my book, next to Zadie Smith’s On Beauty. It’s a hard act to follow, but don’t worry, Zadie, you’ll do just fine. (I kid, I kid.)
I was surprised because Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits doesn’t officially come out until October 7, but I suppose the shipments arrived early. A quick check online showed that both Powells.com and Amazon.com have it available already.
Check out your favorite local bookstore and let me know if you see my book there. (Send me a picture if you happen to have a camera phone!) And while you’re at it, pick up a copy if you like.
Newseum is a site that allows you see the front pages of newspapers around the world (42 countries so far.) It’s pretty nifty if you want to see what big stories the papers are covering.
If you heard loud shrieks reverberating from building to building in New York yesterday, do not be alarmed. Those were shrieks of joy: Oprah has decided to include contemporary books again in her book club. It appears that the petition that was sent earlier this year by a group of writers may have had an impact:
Meg Wolitzer, a novelist who was one of the early signers of the petition, said Ms. Winfrey’s effect on authors, particularly novelists, “was to make us feel relevant,” whether they were chosen for the club or not.“To have somebody with a really loud mouth and a lot of power saying to people, ‘You need to read this,’ is important,” she added.
Ms. Winfrey said she was aware of the petition and was moved by it. When she stopped choosing contemporary books, Ms. Winfrey said she was struggling to find enough titles that she felt compelled to share with her viewers, a statement that angered many publishers. But the change also followed by a few months a highly public quarrel with Jonathan Franzen, whose novel “The Corrections” was chosen by Ms. Winfrey in September 2001.
Winfrey’s first pick is James Frey’s A Million Little Pieces.
Salman Rushdie will be in town tomorrow to read from his new novel, Shalimar the Clown. And I was asked whether I’d like to interview him.
Oh, sure, I said. Let me just check my busy schedule. I’ll try to fit him in.
Needless to say, I’m a pack of nerves. I wish I had a personal cheering section, complete with mascot doing the worm, like in that Starbucks commercial. The kids would be chanting, “Laila! Laila!” as I walk in to meet him. Maybe a triple espresso will do it.
Later on in the day, I’ll be going to the reading organized by Powell’s. Here are the details:
Salman Rushdie
Friday the 23rd
7:30PM
First Unitarian Church
1011 SW 12th Avenue
Downtown Portland
So stop by and say hi. Or, tune in next week and I may give a little preview of what it was like to meet the man who wrote Midnight’s Children. (What, you thought I was going to name the other book?)
