Enchantress of Florence

I went to see Salman Rushdie give a reading from his latest book, The Enchantress of Florence on Monday night (June 30). The event was at the Sixth and I Historic Synagogue in Washington, DC (presented via Politics and Prose Bookstore). Quite engaging speaker. The event was sold out (you got free tix if you bought the book, as I did, at Politics and Prose) and I’d estimate 300 700 people were there. After the talk he answered audience questions, and then he did a signing in the hall in the basement of the synagogue. Long line, but they served refreshments so time passed fairly quickly.

I’ve read the book, and while I liked his prose very much (beautifully descriptive and evocative), I didn’t find that the book gelled. Part history and part fantasy, it was often a blurry line between the two and hard to follow with any sense of cohesion. But it was a quick read, and enjoyable if taken as a few loosely-coupled fables. This was the first book I’d read by Sir Rushdie (he was recently knighted by the Queen), and I liked his prose enough that I will be going back and reading one or more of his other books.

I video recorded the talk (the above is a still).