Languages of Truth

A collection of the finest essays by the 'Best of the Booker' winner, following on from his much-acclaimed STEP ACROSS THIS LINELanguages of Truth offers Salman Rushdie's most piercingly analytical views yet on the evolution of literature and culture even as he takes us deep into his own exuberant and fearless imaginationSalman Rushdie is celebrated as a storyteller of the highest order, illuminating deep 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 own 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 deeply 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, often by telling vivid, sometimes humorous stories of his own personal encounters with them, whether on the page or in person. He delves deeper than ever before into the nature of "truth," revels in the vibrant malleability of language, and the creative lines that can join art and life, and he looks anew at migration, multiculturalism and censorship. The ideas, true stories, and arguments presented here are at once revelatory, funny, and eye-opening, enlivened on every page by Rushdie's signature wit and dazzling voice, making this volume a genuine pleasure to read.

“Salman Rushdie is one of the greatest writers of our age; he is a giant of literature.”

-- Neil Gaiman
Rushdie is vital, expansive, the critic as storyteller, championing his subjects with gusto... Rushdie is a still a writer to be reckoned with. -- Claire Lowdon Times Literary Supplement
Powerful... Languages of Truth feels like essential reading in this time, reminding us that the stories we have told each other over millennia are universal, even if this shared heritage is often lost or forgotten in today's angry, fractured world. -- Nilanjana Roy Financial Times
Probably the best nonfiction he [Rushdie] has written in years... Rushdie is happy to record just what he sees and feels. You sense that he has arrived somewhere new...a sign of good things to come. -- Abhrajyoti Chakraborty Guardian
Rushdie's writing is erudite and full of sympathy, brimming with insight and wit . . . Fans will be delighted . . . [A] mesmerizing collection. Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Salman Rushdie is the author of fourteen previous novels, including Midnight's Children (for which he won the Booker Prize and the Best of the Booker), The Satanic Verses, and Quichotte (which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize). A former president of PEN American Center, Rushdie was knighted in 2007 for services to literature and was made a Companion of Honour in the Queen's last Birthday Honours list in 2022.

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