Description: PRAISE FOR LUKA AND THE FIRE OF LIFE "Rushdie's 11th novel is a sequel to his charming 1990 fableHaroun and the Sea of Stories, written-as was its predecessor-for one of its author's two sons. Visions of Kipling and J.M. Barrie may swim through readers' heads as we meet 12-year-old Luka Khalifa, the child of his parents' middle age (andyounger sibling to the previously eponymous Haroun), and an eager listener to lavish tales of the Magical World dreamed into being by his father Rashid, a celebrated storyteller aka "the Shah of Blah." When Rashid falls into a mysterious prolonged sleep (and hence a silence that raises memories of Rushdie's own "silenced" life as a writer following thefatwaissued by Ayatollah Khomeini), everything Luka has ever learned tells him he must brave the dangers of the Magical World, steal the revivifying Fire of Life from the Mountain of Knowledge and restore his beloved dad to consciousness. Guarded by animal companions (Bear the Dog, and Dog the Bear) and bedeviled by a "phantom Rashid" (aka "Nobodaddy"), the young Prometheus undertakes his heroic deed. He wins a riddling contest against the cantankerous Old Man of the River, encounters vicious Border Rats and compassionate Otters and assorted celebrities (including Mark Twain's Connecticut Yankee and The Terminator), en route to confronting the petty, egomaniacal gods of antiquity. Adult readers will rightfully delight in Rushdie's brilliant wordplay throughout, but younger ones may yearn for less cleverness and more narrative. Fortunately, the story gathers whiz-bang velocity once Luka has heatedly persuaded the sulky gods and monsters that "it's only through Stories that you can get out into the Real World and have some sort of power again." Everything races briskly toward the satisfactory completion of Luka's quest, and a quite perfect final scene. A celebration of storytelling, a possible prequel to the book Rushdie is said to be writing about his own enforced "slumber," and a colorful, kick-up-your-heels delight." -Kirkus Review,starred review PRAISE FOR SALMAN RUSHDIE Haroun and the Sea of Stories "Affectionate, tender, comical and joyful . . . The exuberance of this book makes one laugh with relief and pleasure." -The Washington Post Book World "Fantastical, funny, whooping through drama and comedy, good and evil, introducing creatures delightful or frightening, this joyous and tender book is a whole Arabian Nights entertainment." -The Times Literary Supplement "A lively, wonderfully inventive comic tale . . . [Rushdie's] own Sea of Stories from which he drew this entertaining and moving book continues to flow as clear and brilliant as ever." -The New York Times Book Review The Enchantress of Florence "A baroque whirlwind of a narrative . . . [Rushdie helps] us escape from the present into a dreamlike past that ultimately makes us more aware of the dangers and illusions of our everyday lives." -Chicago Tribune "Brilliant . . . Rushdie's sumptuous mixture of history and fable is magnificent." -The Guardian (London) "For Rushdie, as for the artists he writes about, the pen is a magician's wand." -Financial Times From the Hardcover edition.

Please Wait