Salman Rushdie described his life as “relatively normal” in an interview just two weeks before an assailant stabbed him at an upstate writer’s event.
He made the pronouncement to Germany’s “Stern” magazine, which released a transcript of the interview Saturday.
The interview was conducted in Manhattan, at the office of Rushdie’s agent, and he arrived without bodyguards, the magazine noted.
Rushdie discussed the religious edict issued against him in Iran in 1989.
“A fatwa like that is a serious matter, fortunately the Internet didn’t exist back then. The Iranians had to fax the fatwa to the mosques. That was a long time ago, you know, but now my life is relatively normal again,” he said.
He was attacked Friday on stage at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, NY. Hadi Matar, 24, has been charged with attempted murder.
Rushie was on a ventilator Friday and was likely to lose an eye, his agent said.
The writer admitted to “Stern” that “we live in scary times.”
“Even if I always tell people: Don’t be afraid. But the bad thing is, death threats have become commonplace. It’s no longer just politicians who get it, but even American teachers who go through certain books in class. Look how many guns there are in America – more guns than people. The very existence of all these weapons is frightening,” he said.
He added “I think many people today live with similar threats as I did then. And the fax machine that was used against me is like a bicycle against a Ferrari compared to the internet.”
Rushdie, 75, said he was frightened that the US “will lose our democracy.”
“Ever since the Supreme Court’s abortion decision, I’ve had serious concerns that the US won’t make it. That the problems are irreparable and the country is falling apart,” he said.