Fate and Other Reasons to Love NYC.
I’m obsessed with Salman Rushdie. Really obsessed.
I read Satanic Verses in 2004, thanks to a guy I was crazy about at the time, and I knew when I had finished it that it would be one of my all-time favorite books for the rest of my life. I went out immediately and read more Rushdie. I’m reading my third book of his right now, Midnight’s Children, so I’ve had Rushdie on the brain.
On Friday, I was talking to someone about Rushdie online, and they told me they had come across not only a signed copy of Satanic Verses, but a signed copy of his newest book. I was immensely jealous, of course.
So, I went to lunch, thinking about Salman Rushdie and wanting to meet him, or even just come across a signed book. For no reason whatsoever, I decided to go to Barnes & Noble. I prefer to shop at the Strand or on Amazon so I can buy used books (they seem to have more soul and they’re cheaper), and I had just been to the Strand the day before. There was nothing I wanted to buy, but I went in anyway. I walked around the display tables, wrote down the names of a few books that interested me, then walked out wondering why I had gone in the first place. That is, until I walked outside and looked in the display windows. Next thing I know, I’m staring at a picture of Salman Rushdie on a poster announcing that he’s going to be at the Union Sq. Barnes & Noble this coming Thursday.
It’s an astounding thing when you send a wish out into the world and the world decides to grant it.