Languages of Truth

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What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

From 'Best of the Booker' winner Salman Rushdie, an incisive and inspiring collection of non-fiction essays, criticism and speeches that takes readers on a thrilling journey through the evolution of language and culture

Gathering pieces written between 2003 and 2020, including several never previously in print, Languages of Truth chronicles a period of momentous cultural shifts. Across a wide variety of subjects, Rushdie delves into the nature of storytelling as a deeply human need, and what emerges is a love letter to literature itself. Throughout, Rushdie shares his personal encounters, on the page and in person, with storytellers from Shakespeare and Cervantes to Samuel Beckett, Eudora Welty, and Toni Morrison, and revels in the creative lines that can join art and life.

Always attuned to the malleability of language, Rushdie considers the nature of truth, and looks anew at migration, multiculturalism and censorship. Written with the author's signature wit and energy, Languages of Truth offers pleasure and insight in equal measure, confirming Rushdie's place as one of the most original and important thinkers of our time.

© Salman Rushdie 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

Critics Review

  • Salman Rushdie is one of the greatest writers of our age; he is a giant of literature.

    Neil Gaiman
  • Rushdie is vital, expansive, the critic as storyteller, championing his subjects with gusto… Rushdie is a still a writer to be reckoned with.

    Times Literary Supplement
  • PowerfulLanguages of Truth feels like essential reading in this time, reminding us that the stories we have told each other over millennia are universal, even if this shared heritage is often lost or forgotten in today’s angry, fractured world.

    Financial Times
  • Probably the best nonfiction he [Rushdie] has written in years… Rushdie is happy to record just what he sees and feels. You sense that he has arrived somewhere new…a sign of good things to come.

    Guardian
  • Rushdie’s writing is erudite and full of sympathy, brimming with insight and wit . . . Fans will be delighted . . . [A] mesmerizing collection.

    Publishers Weekly (starred review)

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