Salman Rushdie’s new book is his first fiction since a brutal attack. He tells us why

 Salman Rushdie’s new book, his 23rd, is also a resetting of his career.

“The Eleventh Hour,” which includes two short stories and three novellas, is his first work of fiction since he was brutally stabbed on a New York lecture stage in 2022. 

His recovery has been physical, psychological — and creative. Just finding the words for what happened was a painful struggle that culminated with his memoir “Knife,” published in 2024.

Fiction, the ability to imagine, was the last and crucial step, like the awakening of nerves once feared damaged beyond repair.

“While I was writing ‘Knife,’ I couldn’t even think about fiction. I had no space in my head for that,” Rushdie told The Associated Press last week.

“But almost immediately after I finished the book, before it came out, it’s like this door swung open in my head and I was allowed to enter the room of fiction again.”

Two of the