Salman Rushdie is known for his witty examinations of an ever-changing sociopolitical landscape. Midnight’s Children, his second novel and winner of the prestigious Booker Prize, is a comedic telling of Indian history, while his most recent book, Step Across This Line, is a nonfiction collection that is composed of “stirring and significant essays about his harrowing, often surreal life.” His new novel, Shalimar the Clown, is an epic narrative that moves from California to Kashmir, from Nazi-occupied Europe to the world of modern terrorism.