It was Patrick Wright who called me [in New York] from London and announced, or said, that this fatwa had been put on the book and on Salman and the publishers of the book, or maybe even the publisher of the book.  One would have to read The New York Times or a British newspaper of that date and see what the exact wording was.  And Patrick said, what shall we do about it?  There was a demand to withdraw the title.

Well, it was not part of my remit, and not part of my background, to withdraw titles because people were offended by them.  So I certainly said on that telephone not to do that, but to take precautions, to keep me informed while I was informing myself.  And I, of course, the next 24 hours, read everything there was to read and the interpretation by every pundit and social and religious journalist.

And the complaints about the book were now truly incendiary, in England more than in America.  There were riots, demonstrations and riots in Bradford and other places which had large Islamic populations.  I think… my father always said you can rent a crowd.  I think many people, even Muslims who protested the book, did not wholly understand the issues.  They had been simplified and reduced by the mullahs in their communities, as someone intentionally, Salman intentionally insulting Islam.  And certainly, hardly any of the people protesting the book had ever read it.

And I think this started to have an effect on all those publishers in other countries who had acquired the book, and therefore meant to publish it.  And there were, must have been queries in every publishing capital of the world.