For Salman Rushdie, celebrity is a curse

Salman Rushdie remains unfazed despite the effects of an Iranian fatwa calling for his death. Picture / Reuters

LONDON - When Salman Rushdie complains about being treated like a celebrity by the press, it is clear the effects of Iran's fatwa calling for his death have worn off.

The Indian-born writer upset the Muslim world with what it saw as his blasphemous book "The Satanic Verses," culminating in Iran's famous edict of 1989.

Today he condemns the culture of instant fame almost as readily as he does Islamic radicalism.

"The problem is that when you are well known there is a desire in some bits of the media to write about you at times when you don't have a book to talk about," the 58-year-old said in an interview this week.

"They talk about all kinds of nonsense."

And so from being a recluse under 24-hour protection in Britain who moved from house to house to escape potential assassins, Rushdie has become someone who adorns newspapers and magazines keen to record his penchant for partying.

"In the same way Islamic radicalism is one of the curses of our times, so is celebrity culture."

Media fascination with a personality who spans the worlds of literature and show business has grown since his marriage last year to Indian actress and former model Padma Lakshmi.

"Every so often I go out for the evening, and then everybody says 'he's a party boy'. Actually my view is, it's OK to have fun," he said.

He said the effect of nine years in hiding following the fatwa, which turned him into arguably the world's best known writer, were behind him.

"In terms of its effect on my daily life, it's now nil," he said at his agent's offices in London, where there was no sign of extra security.

Iran formally distanced itself from the fatwa in 1998.

"The only time it comes up is when I'm doing interviews. I have tried very hard to turn the page and start a new chapter; 99 per cent of the time it's not a factor."

SERIOUS SIDE TO FAME

He joked that the reason the media spotlight was so often on his private life was because he wrote so slowly, giving people less opportunity to talk about his work.

That has changed in the last few weeks with the upcoming publication of "Shalimar the Clown," a novel partly set in Kashmir which deals with Islamic extremism, military brutality, love and betrayal as well as the phenomenon of fame.

"My problem is I'm a slow writer. If I was able to produce a book every year, then no doubt I could talk about my books more often," he said in London, where he is promoting "Shalimar."

"This book took me four years. It's a long project."

The British novelist said it was his obligation to use fame to good effect.

As president of the American branch of PEN, an organization of writers that defends freedom of expression, he has helped authors threatened with imprisonment or worse in their home countries for what they write.

"The spare time activity to which I have given most of my time in the last few years has been to be president of American PEN, and to put the fame out to work on behalf of people who need help.

"Nobody wants to write about that. They all want to write about me playing Scrabble with Kylie Minogue, but the fact that PEN daily is helping to save lives of writers in trouble, that appears to be not worth writing about."

He described the recent case of an Iranian writer threatened with deportation from Australia, but allowed to stay after PEN intervened, "almost certainly saving his life."

A relaxed Rushdie is happy to be back talking about books, "the day job" as he calls it, after so long away.

- REUTERS