The Rushdie File

A unique controversy flared up in the first three months of 1989 concerning novelist Salman Rushdie, the embattled symbol of Britain's new multi-ethnic society, and The Satanic Verses, his daring magical realist challenge to the verities of Islam. The first book to appear in print on that incident is in fact a compilation of documents, the great majority of which derive from the British press, especially from The Independent and The Guardian. But drawing so heavily on what was most readily at hand, Appignanesi and Maitland missed the opportunity to make obscure information available; worse, they missed the global debate over freedom of speech, blasphemy, and religious-secular relations. Too, the controversy's impact on international politics and trade is almost neglected, as is its role in Iranian domestic politics. Coverage of the United States is limited to a meager twenty pages; there is not a word on the German or Soviet responses. Statements by heads of state, by Iranian officials, and by anti-Khomeini Muslims are conspicuous by their absence. Indeed, the editor's version of the incident makes it appear as little more than a lively London literary debate.