Rushdie's a South Asian writer famous for mixing historical facts and events with fantastic occurrences, specifically by writing about South Asian history with a magical perspective. He burst onto the scene with the publication of his novel Midnight's Children in 1980.

Midnight's Children

This is the book that made Rushdie famous. It tells the story of Saleem Sinai, a boy born at the exact moment of India's independence on August 15th, 1947. As a result, Saleem's destiny is tied to the destiny of his new nation. And he's gifted with telepathic powers that allow him to read people's thoughts.

In Midnight's Children, Rushdie plays with time, mixes historical events with magical events, and narrates the whole thing through the voice of Saleem Sinai, a guy who really wants us to believe in all the extraordinary things he's sharing with us.

Satanic Verses

If Midnight's Children made Rushdie a famous writer, the Satanic Verses made him a political hero. That's because when the book was published, a bunch of clerics in Iran decided that the novel was disrespectful to Islam, and so they issued a death sentence on the author. Rushdie had to go into hiding for ten long years.

The book tells the story of Gibreel Farishta and Saladin Chamcha, two friends who miraculously survive the explosion of a hijacked plane. After their ordeal, they're both transformed: Farishta into the archangel Gibreel and Chamcha into the devil.

Chew on This:

Salman Rushdie does Magic Realism with a point of view in Midnight's Children, the story of Indian history told through the perspective of a narrator with magical powers.

Rushdie's Magic Realist novel the Satanic Verses caused all kinds of controversy when it was first published—proof that fantasy can be politically charged and ruffle some serious feathers.