I have read novels by Salman Rushdie for many years, and I have also read about him in various newspapers. Media has often portrayed him as a controversial figure, but there has also been a lot of support for his stance — all of it depending on the newspaper in question, but perhaps also the time.

My own image of this famous author has always been coloured by my reaction to the first novel of his that I read, Midnight's Children. I loved it. The humour and wit found in most of his novels come in abundance in this one, and I simply couldn't believe its author to be even remotely like the image his enemies painted of him.

His memoire, Joseph Anton, tells the story of the (Sal)man behind the "Rushdie affair" and his account of the years living with the fatwa from February 14th, 1989, seems honest, candid, and nuanced. The issue of artistic freedom and the role of religion is placed at the forefront, as it is in so many of his novels. All in all it's a truly wonderful read.