Salman Rushdie Opens Up To ‘New Yorker’ About Attempt On His Life: ‘Now That I’ve Almost Died, Everybody Loves Me’

Screenshots via Twitter (L)/CBS NY (R)

Salman Rushdie gave his first in-depth interview since a brutal assassination attempt on his life last year, joking that being stabbed led to new fans.

“Now that I’ve almost died, everybody loves me,” he told the New Yorker’s David Remnick. Hadi Matar, 24, was arrested and charged with repeatedly stabbing Rushie on a stage in August. He pled not guilty and Rushie said the trial likely won’t take place until late next year. The attempt on his life left Rushdie blind in his right eye.

Rushdie became a target of religious extremists after his novel The Satanic Verses presented a depiction of the prophet Muhammad that inspired Iran’s former spiritual leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to issue a religious edict calling for Rushdie to be killed. Rushdie was in hiding for years after this. That book saw a boost in sales after Rushdie was attacked.

The author said he lost 40 pounds since the attempt on his life and he’s still recovering, but he already has a new book titled Victory City being released this month. Rushdie shared an image of himself after the interview was published.

https://twitter.com/SalmanRushdie/status/1622656252911271937

On his attacker, Rushdie said he knew nothing about the man, but deemed him an “idiot” for an interview he gave to the New York Post.

“I don’t know what I think of him, because I don’t know him. All I’ve seen is his idiotic interview in the New York Post. Which only an idiot would do,” Rushdie said.

Beyond his physical recovery, Rushdie said he’s also experience nightmares since the attack.

“Those seem to be diminishing. I’m fine. I’m able to get up and walk around. When I say I’m fine, I mean, there’s bits of my body that need constant checkups. It was a colossal attack,” he said.

The novelist will likely be opening up much more about the attack in an upcoming sequel to his memoir Joseph Anton, which he said will cover the assassination attempt. Rushdie revealed writing itself, however, has become more difficult since August.

“I sit down to write, and nothing happens. I write, but it’s a combination of blankness and junk, stuff that I write and that I delete the next day,” he said. “I’m not out of that forest yet, really.”

Read the full New Yorker profile here.