Rushdie: how the fatwa made me a much nicer man
Author admits he nearly gave up writing during 10 years in isolation – but he emerged stronger and with a new zest for life.

By Jonathan Owen writing in The Independent

Sir Salman Rushdie has confessed how he emerged a better person after being under a fatwa that saw him live a life in virtual seclusion for almost a decade.
In 1989, Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini issued the author with a death warrant over alleged blasphemy against the Prophet Mohamed in his novel The Satanic Verses.

In a revelatory encounter with clinical psychologist Pamela Connolly, to be shown on Channel 4 later this month, the author claims the decision ultimately helped him become more self-aware. He recalls how he reached rock bottom when the fatwa was declared and says that it "erased" his personality.

The persecution almost drove him to stop writing altogether, he claims: "It's the only time in my life that I ever really thought, if this is what you get for writing, then why do it?"
Speaking during a session with Dr Connolly for the Shrink Rap series, which has seen celebrities submit to what amounts to a televised therapy session, Rushdie admits he was "deranged" when claiming to be a Muslim in an attempt to deal with the pressures of the fatwa and "that's the moment at which I hit bottom".
Read the full story by linking here to The Independent