Rushdie Reads, Jokes For Square Audience

Joking that it was "definitely the first time I've ever read in a church," the Indian novelist Salman Rushdie read before several hundred people Monday night at the First Parish Church of Cambridge.

The reading was the final stop in a month-long book tour across the United States, and also kicked off the Harvard Square Book Festival, which runs May 10-16.

The Boston Phoenix, a weekly listings newspaper, co-sponsored the reading.

Rushdie, whose 1989 novel The Satanic Verses provoked a worldwide controversy and a death sentence from Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini, read an excerpt from his latest book, The Ground Beneath Her Feet, published last month.

An author whose novels have consistently irked authority figures both religious and secular, Rushdie made no exception on Monday, selecting an excerpt that satirized corruption in the Indian government.

Rushdie described his book as "a rock-and-roll novel" recounting the lives of two Indian musicians whose band reaches international superstardom, as told through the eyes of their confidante Rai Merchant.

But the excerpt Rushdie chose on Monday diverged from that theme, focusing on the beginning of Rai's career as a photographer and the exposure of a nationwide scam.

It also developed the theme of the urban-rural divide in contemporary India, and indulged Rushdie's preference for the magical realist genre.

In an allusive moment, Rushdie closed the reading with a passage that reprised Molly Bloom's monologue at the end of James Joyce's "Ulysses."

"I just pinched it," Rushdie said. "Joyce pinched lots of things, by the way, so I think it's legit."

Rushdie has lived in hiding since 1989, when the Iranian government's death sentence forced him to go underground.

Last September, Iran announced publicly that while it could not revoke the death sentence, it would make no efforts to have it executed.

A private foundation in Iran still maintains a$2.5 million price for Rushdie's head.

Rushdie is the author of seven novels,including Midnight's Children, which wonthe 1981 Booker Prize, England's most prestigiousliterary award and is widely considered his finestwork. It was also named the "Booker ofBookers"--the best single book in the prize's25-year history.

Rushdie's affable personality and rapier withad the audience breaking up with laughterthroughout the evening.

One audience member asked Rushdie whether hehad reconsidered judgements he made as co-editorof an anthology of Indian fiction in light ofcritical response.

"You're asking if I changed my mind becausepeople disagreed with me?" Rushdie said. "You mayhave heard that a lot of people disagreed with meonce before."

"His arrogance, attitude and charm were allmixed in with his sense of humor," CarolineStanculescu '00 said. "It was very refreshing."

Asked about a British tabloid photo whichdepicted him at the Playboy Mansion in Hollywood,Rushdie answered that "Clearly, that's where I'vebeen for the last 10 years."

In what has become a necessary precaution atRushdie's public appearances, audience memberswere frisked and their bags were checked at thedoor to the church, then passed through metaldetectors once inside.

Cambridge Police Department officers were alsoon hand.

"I expected more security, people withearpieces," Stanculescu said. "And it was reallyrather low-key. It was nothing more than going toa regular concert.

A private foundation in Iran still maintains a$2.5 million price for Rushdie's head.

Rushdie is the author of seven novels,including Midnight's Children, which wonthe 1981 Booker Prize, England's most prestigiousliterary award and is widely considered his finestwork. It was also named the "Booker ofBookers"--the best single book in the prize's25-year history.

Rushdie's affable personality and rapier withad the audience breaking up with laughterthroughout the evening.

One audience member asked Rushdie whether hehad reconsidered judgements he made as co-editorof an anthology of Indian fiction in light ofcritical response.

"You're asking if I changed my mind becausepeople disagreed with me?" Rushdie said. "You mayhave heard that a lot of people disagreed with meonce before."

"His arrogance, attitude and charm were allmixed in with his sense of humor," CarolineStanculescu '00 said. "It was very refreshing."

Asked about a British tabloid photo whichdepicted him at the Playboy Mansion in Hollywood,Rushdie answered that "Clearly, that's where I'vebeen for the last 10 years."

In what has become a necessary precaution atRushdie's public appearances, audience memberswere frisked and their bags were checked at thedoor to the church, then passed through metaldetectors once inside.

Cambridge Police Department officers were alsoon hand.

"I expected more security, people withearpieces," Stanculescu said. "And it was reallyrather low-key. It was nothing more than going toa regular concert.