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Languages of Truth: Essays 2003-2020

Languages of Truth: Essays 2003-2020

by Salman Rushdie

Random House ·2021 ·368 pages
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Critics' Rating Index

Near the Top

66/99

Readers' Rating Index

Top of the Pile

88/99

Scholars' Citation Index

89/99

Volume of Reviews

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About This Book

Newly collected, revised, and expanded nonfiction--including many texts never previously in print--from the first two decades of the twenty-first century by the Booker Prize-winning, internationally bestselling author 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.


Reviews

"With reflections on everything from the rise of autofiction to Trump and Covid, a collection of Salman Rushdie's 21st-century nonfiction ought to be a treasure trove, but it feels more like watching someone rooting around down the back of the sofa for loose change ..."

Anthony Cummins· The Guardian Read review ↗ Bottom of the Pile

"Sentences arrive at manageable length."

Claire Lowden· Times Literary Supplement Read review ↗ Near the Top

"Though wide-ranging, many of the essays are marred by a portentous note ..."

Ian Thomson· The Evening Standard Read review ↗ Maybe Someday

"Rushdie salutes the 'protean' and 'metamorphic' art of change and multiplicity ..."

Boyd Tonkin· The Wall Street Journal Read review ↗ Near the Top

"Rushdie's fans will be delighted."

Publishers Weekly Read review ↗ Near the Top

"Wide-ranging nonfiction pieces by the distinguished novelist, unified by his commitment to artistic freedom and his adamant opposition to censorship in any form ..."

Kirkus Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"Much of the rest in Languages of Truth is limper and less interesting."

Dwight Garner· The New York Times Read review ↗ Maybe Someday

"These essays are at their best when Rushdie trains his attention on literature ..."

Ismail Muhammad· The New York Times Read review ↗ Bottom of the Pile

"Engrossing and provocative testimony to our need for the 'languages of truth.'"

Donna Seaman· Booklist Read review ↗ Near the Top

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