Bones, Stones, and the Hearts of Men: Compiling the Quran

2007 Vol. 4: July/Aug

His fame as a novelist came attached with a hefty price tag. More accurately, his fame came manacled to virulent strains of fundamental Islam. Until 1988 Salman Rushdie, with his heavy-lidded, pedestrian features, was an unlikely candidate for fame outside of literary circles. However, with the 1988 U.K. publication of The Satanic Verses, containing two controversial chapters relating to the Qur’an and Muhammad, Rushdie’s name became a conduit of Islamic rage.