Product Description

In these nine stories, Salman Rushdie looks at what happens when East meets West, at the forces that pull his characters first in one direction, then the other. Fantasy and realism collide as a rickshaw driver writes letters describing his film star career in Bombay; a mispronunciation leads to romance and an unusual courtship in sixties London; two childhood friends turned diplomats live out in a violent world fantasies hatched by "Star Trek"; and Christopher Columbus dreams of consummating his relationship with Queen Isabella. The stories in "East, West" show the extraordinary range and power of Salman Rushdie's writing.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #38917 in Books
• Published on: 1998-01-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

About the Author
Salman Rushdie is the author of eight novels, one collection of short stories, and four works of non-fiction, and the co-editor of The Vintage Book of Indian Writing. In 1993 Midnight's Children was judged to be the 'Booker of Bookers', the best novel to have won the Booker Prize in its first 25 years. The Moor's Last Sigh won the Whitbread Prize in 1995, and the European Union's Aristeion Prize for Literature in 1996. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres.

Customer Reviews

Enchanting, beautifully crafted stories
Rushdie highlights the similarities and differences between the cultures of the Eastern and Western Worlds delightfully. Many of the stories provide a refreshing message of hope and the endings usually brought a broad, satisfied grin to my face.

One of the best of all time
Quite simply, Salman Rushdie is one of the best writers of our time, and perhaps of all time. His stories are pure beauty on a page. Readers will want to go back time and time again.

Hit And Miss
An interesting collection of Short Stories which start in Rushdie's East, migrate to the West and end in a mix of the two. His writing is infectious and his stories varied and his imagination incredible.

I'd say this collection is hit and miss however. Certain of the stories are excellent, thought provokingly allegoric, naive yet profound. Others however suffer from a layering of convolution where a less fragmented approach to story telling may well have served him Rushdie well.

It is difficult to criticise one so revered but when for the most part here and elsewhere of course Rushdie is beyond talented and possesses an imagination which is an absolute pleasure to read - it's just that perhaps here isn't the best place to start (though it wouldn't be the worst!)