I don't know what Rushdie could be thinking, but, I agree with the Guardian reporter, Tim Footman, "He needs to take a deep breath and repeat to himself the mantra that should have been drummed into the wielders of the fatwa, the burners of effigies and wannabe assassins: it's only a bloody book."
John Blake Publishing has delayed publication of On Her Majesty's Service by Ron Evans after Salman Rushdie threatened legal action over the memoir by a former Special Branch officer who had served on a special detail protecting Rushdie.
According to the Guardian, Evans "claimed that the security guards protecting Rushdie during the fatwa against him 'got so fed up with his attitude that they locked him in a cupboard under the stairs and all went to the local pub for a pint or two.' Evans also claimed that the guards nicknamed Rushdie Scruffy, which Rushdie said was untrue."
The publishers' managing director, John Blake, said, "If anyone should be defending freedom of speech it should be him . . . I can't believe that he'd really want to ban a book because it says that detectives named him Scruffy--in a way that's almost affectionate."
Rushdie told the Guardian he is "not trying to prevent him from publishing his stupid book but if they publish it as it is there will be consequences and there will be a libel action."
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2 comments:
Salman Rushdie is such a drama queen, he really is!
his attitude doesn't surprise me at all.
There are a lot of people who think something does or doesn't apply to them.
I can't say I'm not guilty of this ...sigh, on occasion I get my nose in a twist.
But I think the higher up on the food chain you get, the more common it is.
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