Author:Tarif Khalidi
Considered in Islam to be the infallible word of God, The Qur'an was revealed to the prophet Muhammad by the archangel Gabriel in a series of divine revelations over many years after his first vision in the cave. In 114 chapters, or surahs, it provides the rules of conduct that remain fundamental to Muslims today - most importantly the key Islamic values of prayer, fasting, pilgrimage and absolute faith in God, with profound spiritual guidance on matters of kinship, marriage and family, crime and punishment, rituals, food, warfare and charity. Through its pages, a fascinating picture emerges of life in seventh-century Arabia, and from it we can learn much about how people felt about their relationship with God and their belief in the afterlife, as well as attitudes to loyalty, friendship, race, forgiveness and the natural world. It also tells of events and people familiar to Christian and Jewish readers, fellow 'People of the Book' whose stories are recorded in the Gospels and Torah. Here we find Adam, Moses, Abraham, Jesus and John the Baptist, among others, who are regarded, like Muhammad, to be prophets of the Muslim faith.
The godfather of gurus is back... the style is clear and engaging
—— Daily ExpressThis book represents the summation of [Vermes's] thinking about the early history of Christianity. It is a challenging and engaging book that sets out to retrace the route by which a Jewish preacher in 1st-century Israel came to be declared as consubstantial and co-equal with the omnipotent, omniscient only God
—— Stuart Kelly , ScotsmanA major contribution to our understanding of the historical Jesus
—— Financial TimesA magnum opus of early Christian history and one of the year's most significant titles
—— BooksellerA very accessible and entertaining read
—— Gareth Williams , Scotland on Sunday BOOKS OF THE YEARMindfulness has become a serious movement, now with champions among policy makers as well as Buddhists. Thich Nhat Hanh is one of its guiding spirits
—— The Times Literary SupplementThich Nhat Hanh's words are like water. Simple, pure, transparent, and absolutely indispensable for life
—— Alejandro Iñárritu, director of Birdman and The RevenantDescribes the painful process by which a human being becomes a symbol
—— Sunday Telegraph (Seven)Sprawling, intimate, surreal, it exerts a mesmeric hold
—— Boyd Tonkin , IndependentPoignant and honest
—— Big Issue in the NorthJoseph Anton conveys a clear and shaming picture of his ordeal… The reader is fully on Rushdie’s side.
—— Pankaj Mishra , GuardianA frank and zestful memoir...a precious historical document and an immersive page-turning read...pacey, intimate, surreal, whipped along by love and scorn and overflowing with tall tales...it exerts a mesmeric hold with high-octane storytelling.
—— Boyd Tonkin , IndependentThe book speaks to the heart, and to conscience.
—— John Lloyd , Financial TimesAn indispensable text that needs no description.
—— Margaret Drabble , New StatesmanThe most gripping, moving and entertaining literary memoir I have ever read.
—— Amanda Craig , Independent on SundayThe story Rushdie tells is never less than gripping.
—— Colin McCabe , New StatesmanA magnificent new memoir.
—— Matthew d’Ancona , Evening StandardThis moving, sometimes irritating, often beautiful and blissfully funny memoir is also a resounding manifesto, reminding us that novelists have a right and duty to tackle the most controversial subjects.
—— Jake Kerridge , Sunday ExpressHis big, bold, controversial memoir…matches Rushdie’s confident personality.
—— Ian Finlayson , The Times[A book that] rattles with the terror of the moment.
—— Graeme Wood , Barnes & Noble ReviewThe big book of the week was Salman Rushdie's memoir Joseph Anton
—— GuardianIt’s an extraordinary document.
—— Anthony Cummins , MetroRushdie says art outlasts persecution, but artists may not. A look at how this dichotomy has played out in his life.
—— Salil Tripathi , Live MintJoseph Anton is as riveting for the small vignettes as the big, historical sweep.
—— Ginny Dougary , Financial TimesReads like a thriller...painfully true.
—— Robert McCrum , ObserverHe is compelling here...grippingly reconstructing his long years in hiding.
—— Robert Collins , Sunday Times[N]ot many Americans had heard of Rushdie until Valentines Day, 1989, when the dying Ayatollah Khomeni of Iran issued the infamous fatwa calling for Rushdie’s head... Rushdie spent most of the next decade in hiding, accompanied by armed British agents. He’s now published his account of that stranger-than-fiction time: Joseph Anton: A Memoir.
—— Kurt Andersen , Studio 360Aside from the vivid, splendidly told account of his childhood and family background, Rushdie's book charts in, fascinating, grimly humourous detail, the shadowy half-life he lived until that fatwah was lifted on March 27, 2002.
—— Paddy Kehoe , RTE Ten