Herbst Theater - 401 Van Ness AvenueSan Francisco, CA Google Map »
Salman Rushdie is one of modern literature’s most well known and global voices. He was born in India to a Muslim family, educated at a British preparatory school, and has lived his adult life in both London and New York City. The diversity of his life experience has sharpened Rushdie’s skill as a cultural observer, and has been the source of some of his most powerful themes, including religious faith and fanaticism. His many works include The Satanic Verses, which ignited an extensive debate about censorship and religious extremism, The Ground Beneath Her Feet, and Midnight’s Children, winner of the Booker Prize in 1981. His last book, The Enchantress of Florence, wove together stories about the Mughal and Ottoman Empires, and was his “most researched book” thus far. Rushdie’s forthcoming novel is Luka and the Fire of Life. A sequel of sorts to his previous young adult book Haroun and the Sea of Stories, the novel takes place in an alternative world informed by the surreal logic of video games and stars a young man named Luka on a quest to save his father from a cast of dastardly characters.
Michael Krasny is the host of the KQED radio program Forum. He is also a Professor of English at San Francisco State University and the author of Off Mike: A Memoir of Talk Radio and Literary Life. His new book is Spiritual Envy: An Agnostic’s Quest. His many interviews for City Arts & Lectures include Toni Morrison, Larry David, Norman Mailer, Joyce Carol Oates, and Alice Walker.
