There are not many names that elicit an emotional response like Salman Rushdie. Whether it’s adoration for his unbridled commitment to protecting free speech, his Booker Prize winning novels and feisty sense of humour — or condemnation of his blasphemous book, The Satanic Verses, which has been called “the most controversial book of modern times” by publishing house Penguin Books.
Nonetheless, the world is collectively shocked and appalled by last Friday’s news that the author had been stabbed at least 10 times in the face, neck and abdomen during an event in western New York. Ironically, just moments prior to the brutal attack Rushdie agreed to travel across the US to lobby cities to provide asylum for exiled artists according to Ralph Henry Reese, the event’s moderator.
