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Rushdie takes novel pledge

ATLANTA: Salman Rushdie has banned himself from appearing in any of his future novels. The well-known writer said he was frequently asked if his fictional characters were based on himself. He said two characters were loosely autobiographical, but there would be no more. “Too much of my life story has found itself into the public domain already,” said Rushdie, 60, in a speech on Sunday at Atlanta’s Emory University.

The writer has been a lightning rod for protests by Muslims since his book The Satanic Verses was published in 1988 amid criticism that it insulted Islam.

He acknowledged that two of his characters had autobiographical roots — Saleem Sinai, a Hindu child raised by wealthy Muslims in Midnight’s Children (1981) and Malik Solanka, a former academic who moves to New York City in Fury (2001).

His next novel The Enchantress of Florence is due in June. — AP

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