NEW YORK –

In Salman Rushdie’s first book since the 2022 stabbing that hospitalized him and left him blind in one eye, the author wastes no time reliving the day he thought might be his last.

“At a quarter to eleven on August 12, 2022, on a sunny Friday morning in upstate New York, I was attacked and almost killed by a young man with a knife just after I came out on stage at the amphitheater in Chautauqua to talk about the importance of keeping writers safe from harm,” Rushdie writes in the opening paragraph of the memoir “Knife,” published Tuesday.

At just over 200 pages, “Knife” is a brief work in the canon of Rushdie, among the most exuberant and expansive of contemporary novelists. “Knife” is also his first memoir since “Joseph Anton,” the 2012 publication in which he looked back on the fatwa, the death decree, issued more than 20 years earlier by Iran’s Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini because of the alleged blasphemy in Rushdie’s novel “The Satanic Verses.”

Rushdie was initially driven into hiding, and for years lived under constant protection. But the threat had seemingly receded and he had for some time been enjoying his preferred life of travel, social engagement and a free imagination, out at play in such recent novels as “Quichotte” and “Victory City.”

As Rushdie observes in “Knife,” subtitled “Meditations After an Attempted Murder,” he had sometimes pictured his “public assassin” turning up. But the timing of the 2022 attack seemed not just startling, but “anachronistic,” the rising of a “murderous ghost from the past,” returning to settle a score Rushdie thought long resolved. He refers to August 11, 2022, as his “last innocent evening.”

But in many ways, “Knife” is as notable for the spirit it shares with his other books as it is for the blunt and horrifying descriptions of the attack that did, and did not, change his life.

In the book’s first chapter, Rushdie praises the “pure heroism,” the physical courage of the Chautauqua Institution event moderator Henry Reese, who grabbed the assailant. But if another kind of heroism is hope and determination (and humor) in the wake of trauma, then “Knife” is a heroic book, documenting Rushdie’s journey from lying in his own blood to a return to the same stage 13 months later and attaining a state of “wounded happiness.”

Love and marriage

Part of the story of “Knife” is that Rushdie’s life, even over these past two years, is about more than an act of murderous violence. He dedicates a chapter to meeting and marrying the poet Rachel Eliza Griffiths, who greeted him during a PEN America event in 2017 and revealed a “dazzling smile” Rushdie found himself unable to forget. She had been in New York City when she learned of the stabbing, and hurried on a private plane to be with him, having been told he was unlike to survive.

“I wasn’t dead,” Rushdie wrote. “I was in surgery.”

A departed friend

As Rushdie recovered, he learned that his dear friend and fellow author Martin Amis was gravely ill with cancer. Rushdie and Amis were part of a circle of gifted friends from Britain that also included Christopher Hitchens and Ian McEwan. In what proved to be a farewell email, Rushdie praised the “generosity and kindness” of Amis’ encouragement after the knife attack and celebrated such Amis novels as “London Fields” and “Money.”

Amis died in May 2023.

‘The A.’

Rushdie’s charged assailant is Hadi Matar, but the author refers to him as “The A.,” short for “The Ass” (or “Asinine man”). He does allow his imagination to expend itself on an unlikely dialogue with the fellow being he knows only through a momentous span of 27 seconds. Why even pretend to speak with his would-be killer? “I’m not looking for an apology. I do wonder how he feels, now that he has had time to think things over,” Rushdie writes.

Matar’s trial was delayed from January after a judge ruled he was allowed to seek the memoir’s manuscript and related materials.

The healing

He will leave the hospital, “grow stronger in body and mind,” return to the events he attended so often before, like the annual PEN America gala. He will feel heartened by supportive messages, a “worldwide avalanche” — not just from friends, but heads of state, such as President Joe Biden, who will issue a statement citing Rushdie’s commitment to “sharing ideas without fear.”

The nearness of death, Rushdie writes, can make you feel a “great loneliness.” Words from others “make you feel that you’re not alone, that maybe you haven’t lived and worked in vain.” 

A massive dome set up inside the Yukon University gymnasium is being used as a mesmerizing teaching tool providing a unique experience to kids in the north. As students step inside the 44-foot structure, they are immersed in “The Brain” — a 60-minute video projection-mapped to a 360-degree dome. “It looked like you were actually inside your brain, which was pretty cool,” said Erykah Cletheroe-Blackjack, one of the dozens of students who have the opportunity to experience it.  The program takes young people through a story of the human brain, from creation to adult development. They learn how their brains react to junk food, TikTok videos, toxic stress, and most importantly, to drugs. “It talks about opioids, where they come from, and it talks about the impact it has on your brain. And then, it talks about what can happen when you’re ingesting those types of substances,” said Tosh Southwick, co-founder of IRP Consulting. She played an instrumental role in the creation and development of the program. More than fried eggs “When I was growing up, there was this big campaign against drugs, (called) ‘This is your brain on drugs’ and they would fry an egg in a frying pan and then that was it,” said Southwick. By contrast, The Brain provides “a physiological representation of walking through your neurons, your synapsis, and your different hormones — all these different pieces in the brain,” she said. Southwick comes from the Kluane First Nation and is a member of the Wolf Clan. She’s an active community leader and mother, and says it was important for her to see a different type of education in her community. “We need all the solutions that we can try,” said Southwick, who described a time 18-months ago, when she would hold her breath every time her phone rang over fear of “who we lost next.” She says her community has faced numerous deaths from the toxic drug supply. At one point last year, Yukon faced Canada’s worst toxic drug death rate. Southwick says The Brain was a true collaboration, citing Kelly Proudfoot of Firecracker Strategies, as another concerned community member and mother who wanted to step up education for kids. More than a dozen organizations, along with educators, health units, and medical experts formed a collective to research and draft a script and visuals to create the immersive experience. “Most people lay down to experience the dome and it takes them 10 to 15 minutes to come back to reality,” said Paul Magnuson, “Chief Imagineer” at Big Art, the company behind the dome. “So, the emotional side of it is amazing.” Audience members lay on the ground to watch ‘The Brain’ — a 360-degree video projection mapped on to a large dome. (Image courtesy of Kelly Proudfoot) The goal is to reach teenagers and leave a lasting impression. “No 12 to 18-year-old is going to remember everything we tell them in 60 minutes. But, you will remember the experience, and the way it made you feel, and that’s more important than anything,” said Magnuson. Experiencing the 360-degree projection and learning about the technology is also part of the experience for students from Whitehorse and surrounding communities. “We live in the north and our kids miss things, like planetariums or IMAX theatres, or all of those things that are tech driven,” said Southwick. The Brain incorperates elements of Indigenous culture, traditional teachings and aspects of life in the north. “As artists, we figure out a way to communicate some of the world’s issues. I think we’ve done a great job, providing these youth with an experience that resonates, and is relevant,” said Magnuson. The program also focuses on healing, offering tools to young people for how to avoid stress, where to get community support for drug addiction, and lessons from elders. “These are heavy conversations,” said Southwick. Afterwards, “let’s bring you back up and (learn about) what happens when you go drumming, what happens when you’re out on the land, fishing.” For many community leaders in Whitehorse, there is no conversation more pressing right now than the toxic drug crisis.  If the project “shows one youth what happens in the brain if they take a substance, that is a win for me,” said Southwick. “If we give them factual information, if their teachers are armed with more knowledge in order to support them, that’s one less chance we’re going to have somebody else who we have to care (for), and hold their family up while they grieve.” “The Brain” is in Whitehorse for two weeks. Talks are underway to determine where else it could be installed in Canada.

Some people love to wash their car, and for others, it’s their most hated chore. It’s a necessity for car owners, so no matter where you fall on the love-hate spectrum, you want a car wash that’s going to give your car a deep clean that lasts. Automatic car washes are at almost any gas…

  When you take your car to the car wash, there are multiple add-ons available, and one common choice is spray-on wax. It may seem like it doesn’t make a difference, but there are some important benefits. And these benefits go beyond how shiny your will car looks. What Are the Benefits of Waxing Your…

Even when you are lucky enough to start with an empty room, it can be overwhelming to design an interior that you can enjoy for years to come. Following some basic interior design principles, you can transform your space into a relaxing room you will be comfortable and happy with. Decide what your focal point will be and build out from there.  For best results, keep proportion and scale in mind as you decorate as well as these tips!

 Deciding on Your Focal Point
Do you have a magnificent bay window with an incredible view?  Is there an ornate mantle that is the reason you fell in love with your home? Or is there something you absolutely MUST HAVE in the room? Situate your furniture around your chosen focal point to create balance and equilibrium. If your room does not already have an existing focal point, create one with oversized art or add an accent point like a free-standing fireplace, they come in a variety of sizes and styles. Symmetrically balance the room evenly so that both sides mirror one another.  This will help your chosen focal point stand out all the more! Use matching accent tables to flank your sofa or use different pieces of furniture to create a copacetic visual impact, like two similar armchairs to balance a sofa.
Repetition for Rhythm
Rhythm creates a flow and helps direct the eye to the differing visual elements in your room. Just as the notes of a favorite song repeat to create the rhythm, repetition in decor will create a rhythm throughout a home. Establish visual interests with a rhythm throughout your space by placing similar colours or patterns at intervals and repeat in artwork, cushions or area rugs.

Perfect Proportion and Suitable Scaling
Who doesn’t love a large, overstuffed chair? But if your room is on the smaller size it may look out of place and make your room seem even smaller than it is. Keep proportion in perspective. Proportion is the ratio between a piece of furniture and the size of a room. Scale is the size of a piece of furniture in relation to the other pieces of furniture in the room. A super large chair will overpower an apartment of loft size sofa or loveseat and create a sense of unbalance in the room.

Have your room humming harmoniously
Creating harmony will enhance how much you will continue to love your finished. Pull the room with a subdued colour palette for a pleasing, harmonious vibe.   together for a pleasing, harmonious look with a subdued color palette. You can also use a single colour for elements that vary in size and shape. Check out our blog on Doing White on White Right! for more tips!

What is the focal point in your room?  What is your best tip to find harmony and balance through your home?