Languages of Truth: Essays: 2003-2020 by Salman Rushdie

About the book

Salman Rushdie is celebrated as a storyteller of the highest order, illuminating truths about our society and culture through his gorgeous, often searing prose. Now, in his latest collection of nonfiction, he brings together insightful and inspiring essays, criticism, and speeches that focus on his relationship with the written word and solidify his place as one of the most original thinkers of our time. Gathering pieces written between 2003 and 2020, Languages of Truth chronicles Rushdie's intellectual engagement with a period of momentous cultural shifts. Immersing the reader in a wide variety of subjects, he delves into the nature of storytelling as a human need, and what emerges is, in myriad ways, a love letter to literature itself. Rushdie explores what the work of authors from Shakespeare and Cervantes to Samuel Beckett, Eudora Welty, and Toni Morrison mean to him, whether on the page or in person. He delves deep into the nature of "truth," revels in the vibrant malleability of language and the creative lines that can join art and life, and looks anew at migration, multiculturalism, and censorship. Enlivened on every page by Rushdie's signature wit and dazzling voice, Languages of Truth offers the author's most piercingly analytical views yet on the evolution of literature and culture even as he takes us on an exhilarating tour of his own exuberant and fearless imagination.

Review

“Like the man himself, [Languages of Truth] is culturally omnivorous, politically engaged and thoroughly optimistic. . . . You feel as if you are in the company of someone who is endlessly delighted by the world around him.” —Hadley Freeman, The Guardian

“Rushdie is a polymath of towering cleverness. . . . [Languages of Truth is] engagingly reflective.” —London Evening Standard

“[I]n Rushdie’s book of essays, one thought follows another, picks up a theme, a philosophy, contracts and expands, each piece containing a world. A wonderful book to sit down with, to be amused by and to think about. To evoke the power of stories.” —Deborah Dundas, Toronto Star

“A big deal . . . What makes [Languages of Truth] monumental is not only that it exclusively features work from the twenty-first century but that it tracks Rushdie’s intellectual development with several cultural shifts that are defining features of this age.” —Literary Hub

“[P]rovocative, always stimulating, unfailingly lively, and scholarly yet lucid. . . . [E]xemplary. . . . Rushdie’s thousands of words paint a rich landscape that shows us what it is that makes us who we are.” —Mint Lounge (India)

“Defender of heretics, champion of storytellers, Salman Rushdie exults in protean possibility. . . . Languages of Truth stretches from blazing manifesto to nostalgic reminiscence, close-focus review to polite podium utterance. . . . His years as headline and symbol have often occluded the wit and fun of Mr. Rushdie’s work. That zestful spirit makes a comeback here.” —Boyd Tonkin, The Wall Street Journal

“[B]ristles with candour and courage. The essays in Salman Rushdie's Languages of Truth leave you buoyant. . . . There is more joy here than despair. Like a song that winds back to its chorus, Rushdie often returns to three of his fondest themes: how stories illuminate, how fiction enlightens, and how truth redeems.” —India Today

“[A] brilliant mind's take on world legacies . . . with the literary confidence that standard reporting rarely manages to muster. . . . [Languages of Truth is] ambitious and addresses the big questions of literature: storytelling, truth, morals and reality. . . . [B]rilliant . . . engaging . . . [and] timely. . . . [W]e see Rushdie at his best: perceptive, funny, cosmopolitan and brave.” —The National

“Mesmerizing . . . Rushdie’s writing is erudite and full of sympathy, brimming with insight and wit: ‘Literature has never lost sight of what our quarrelsome world is trying to force us to forget. Literature rejoices in contradiction.’ Rushdie’s fans will be delighted.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Wide-ranging nonfiction pieces by the distinguished novelist, unified by his commitment to artistic freedom and his adamant opposition to censorship in any form. . . . This collection . . . showcases his generous spirit, dedicated to illuminating the work of fellow artists and defending their right to unfettered creativity. . . . Engagingly passionate, and endlessly informative: a literary treat.” —Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

Salman Rushdie

Sir Salman Rushdie is the author of many novels including Grimus, Midnight's Children, Shame, The Satanic Verses, The Moor's Last Sigh, The Ground Beneath Her Feet, Fury and Shalimar the Clown. He has also published works of non-fiction including The Jaguar Smile, Imaginary Homelands, The Wizard of Oz and, as co-editor, The Vintage Book of Short Stories..