Joseph Anton: A Memoir Joseph Anton: A Memoir Joseph Anton: A Memoir is an autobiographical book by the British Indian writer, Salman Rushdie. It was published in September 2012 by Random House. Rushdie used "Joseph Anton" as a pseudonym while in hiding following the fatwa that had been issued by Ayatollah Khomeini, the spiritual and political leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in the midst of criticism by some Muslims and a widespread controversy over Rushdie's novel "The Satanic Verses" (1988). He chose the name to honor the writers Joseph Conrad and Anton Chekhov. Rushdie was annoyed when police officers called him by
A Brief History of Blasphemy A Brief History of Blasphemy A Brief History of Blasphemy: Liberalism, Censorship and the Satanic Verses is a 1990 book by Richard Webster, in which the author discusses the controversy over Salman Rushdie's novel "The Satanic Verses" (1988). Webster critiques the freedom to blaspheme, and argues against "The Crime of Blasphemy" (which advocated the abolition of Britain's blasphemy laws "without replacement"). Webster notes that he named the book after the fourth section of "The Crime of Blasphemy", a pamphlet issued by the International Committee for the Defence of Salman Rushdie and his Publishers, and that his work is influenced by