First Things RSS Feed - Nicholas Kauffman https://www.firstthings.com/author/nicholas-kauffman en-us Copyright 2025 First Things. All Rights Reserved. ft@firstthings.com (The Editors) ft@firstthings.com (The Editors) Mon, 20 Jan 2025 16:55:21 -0500 https://d2201k5v4hmrsv.cloudfront.net/img/favicon-196.png First Things RSS Feed Image https://www.firstthings.com/rss/author/nicholas-kauffman 60 The Failure to Enchant https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2008/09/the-failure-to-enchant https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2008/09/the-failure-to-enchant Tue, 09 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0400 Twenty years ago, Salman Rushdie wrote a novel so shocking that it nearly cost him his life. Ayatollah Khomeini, Iran’s Supreme Leader, issued a fatwa against the Indian author on account of the blasphemy in his book, The Satanic Verses . Much to the chagrin of the more extreme elements of the Muslim community, Rushdie’s very boldness has made him a literary success in the West. Nearly all of his books have met with literary awards and special recognition. This May, Rushdie published his ninth novel, The Enchantress of Florence . Readers of this new book will quickly see that Rushdie’s views on religion have not changed substantially since his irreverence got him into so much trouble two decades ago. If anything, Rushdie has grown more flagrant in his arguments against religion.

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