And now a story about Salman Rushdie...
...from your fellow listener Adrian Salmon. "In my cupboard at home, I have a prized possession - a jar of lime pickle signed by Salman Rushdie.
It's a slightly long story.
It goes back to 1989 when I was on my gap year living in Bristol. I'd just read Midnight's Children and Shame and had been blown away. And I saw that Salman Rushdie was coming to Bristol to sign copies of his new book - The Satanic Verses.
I couldn't afford to buy the book - I was temping to pay my rent. I couldn't take in a copy of his other books, because they didn't belong to me. But there was a chapter in 'Midnight's Children' where the narrator compares writing a novel to making pickles. Each chapter is like a pickle jar and the flavours have to be sealed in quickly, before they lose their intensity.
So I bought a jar of lime pickle at my local store. I wrote a note explaining my circumstances, and asked if Mr Rushdie would sign the jar of pickle as an analogue for his novel. And bless him, he did. And I have it still."
There are more signing stories here and tonight in "Previously on PM"
Comments