Exclusive Photo: Author Salman Rushdie for New Book ‘Quichotte’

CHICAGO – It’s a major event when an author the magnitude of Salman Rushdie releases a new novel, and “Quichotte” is now on the shelves. The story was inspired by Don Quixote, and set in current times. Joe Arce took an Exclusive Photo of Rushdie at an event sponsored by Anderson’s Bookshop at North Central College in Naperville (Illinois).

The book’s narrative is described as “metafiction,” as it tells the story of Sam DuChamp, is an Indian-born writer living in America and author of a number of unsuccessful spy thrillers. Hoping to write a book that is different from his norm, he creates the character of Ismail Smile, a traveling pharmaceutical salesman who has suffered a stroke in old age. Smile begins obsessively watching reality television and becomes infatuated with Salma R, a former Bollywood star who hosts a daytime talk show in New York City.

Salman Rushdie at North Central College, September 18th, 2019
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

Despite having never met her, he sends her love letters under the pen name “Quichotte,” and begins a quest for her across America, driving in his Chevrolet Cruze with his imaginary son Sancho. The two experience contemporary issues of the United States, including racism and the opioid epidemic. The lives of the character Quichotte and the writer DuChamp intertwine as the story progresses.

Salman Rushdie, a British-born writer of Indian descent, first came to prominence in 1981 with the publication of “Midnight’s Children,” which won the Booker Prize for Literature. He became a figure of controversy with this fourth book, a novel called “The Satanic Verses” (1988), which was interpreted as critical of the Islam religion. A “fatwa” order for Rushdie’s execution was given by Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini, and the author was forced to live under police protection for years, as well as having implications on relations between Britain and Iran. Despite proclamations from Iran “finishing” the fatwa, it’s never been officially lifted, but Rushdie remains a public figure. “Joseph Anton: A Memoir” (2012) is Rushdie’s own account of his circumstance.



“Quichotte” is Salman Rushdie’s 12th novel, to go along with his short story collections, two children’s books and a number of essays and nonfiction. Photographer Joe Arce of HollywoodChicago.com shot this Exclusive Photo of the author during before a discussion of his work at Naperville’s North Central College on September 18th, 2019,

[20]	By PATRICK McDONALD [21] Editor and Film Writer HollywoodChicago.com pat@hollywoodchicago.com [20]