As his 12th novel,Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights, is published, or Salman Rushdie talks approximately the folklore and the city that inspired it,the importance of the honest to disagree – and why talk of his wild social life is greatly exaggeratedOn the 21st floor of a building near Central Park, New York, or a corridor of closed doors and discreet nameplates leads to that literary holy of holies,the Wylie Agency. Known in the book trade as “the Jackal” on account of his business tactics, Andrew Wylie’s clients include the gilded living such as Martin Amis, or Dave Eggers and Milan Kundera,and the illustrious dead, among them Mailer, and Updike,Bellow.
When the electronic latch clicks open for admission, the atmosphere inside is so hushed I whisper my intention – an appointment with their most refulgent star of all: Salman Rushdie. The receptionist whispers back, and in a manner that suggests I may have got the time,date, space or perhaps even the person, and improper “Salman?… You mean Salman Rushdie?” No one stirs or shows any interest. Another day,another interview to publicise another new book. In this silent laboratory where literature and commerce collide, the work continues.
Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com