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  • Published: 1 April 2010
  • ISBN: 9780099542254
  • Imprint: Vintage
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 448
  • RRP: $24.99

Imaginary Homelands

Essays and Criticism 1981-1991




A collection of 75 essays that illuminate the culture of his times, and of ours.

Drawing from two political and several literary homelands, this collection presents a remarkable series of trenchant essays, demonstrating the full range and force of Salman Rushdie's remarkable imaginative and observational powers.

With candour, eloquence and indignation he carefully examines an expanse of topics; including the politics of India and Pakistan, censorship, the Labour Party, Palestinian identity, contemporary film and late-twentieth century race, religion and politics. Elsewhere he trains his eye on literature and fellow writers, from Julian Barnes on love to the politics of George Orwell's 'Inside the Whale', providing fresh insight on Kipling, V.S. Naipaul, Graham Greene, John le Carré, Raymond Carver, Philip Roth and Thomas Pynchon among others.

Profound, passionate and insightful, Imaginary Homelands is a masterful collection from one of the greatest writers working today.

  • Published: 1 April 2010
  • ISBN: 9780099542254
  • Imprint: Vintage
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 448
  • RRP: $24.99

About the author

Salman Rushdie

Salman Rushdie is the author of fourteen previous novels, including Midnight's Children (for which he won the Booker Prize and the Best of the Booker), The Satanic Verses, and Quichotte (which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize). A former president of PEN American Center, Rushdie was knighted in 2007 for services to literature and was made a Companion of Honour in the Queen's last Birthday Honours list in 2022.

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Praise for Imaginary Homelands

A deft, various, and humane collection

Christopher Hitchens, Independent

More intelligence and intellectual courage than most writers summon up in a lifetime

The Times

Playful profound and provocative...Rushdie is never less than instructive. He holds nothing back

New York Newsday

A book bristling with intelligence, deeply held opinions, and wonderful flights of fancy

Boston Globe

Literature of the highest order

Michael Foot