rushdie the enchantress

This afternoon I had the pleasure of sitting in on a Salman Rushdie reading at the Harold Washington Library. I have to admit, his novels are always so long, daunting and intense that I have to put it down for weeks at a time to process what I've just read. Seeing him in person and listening to him read a few pages from his latest novel The Enchantress of Florence, I was a little surprised...has he gone off the deep end? Evidently he did a great deal of historical research for this novel that takes place between two very different worlds - the Mughal Empire and Florence, Italy. He seemed to be in this constant state of glibness. A bit full of himself and highly amused with his own writing. Although historically based, his writings were filled with elements of fantasy and exotic perversion. I guess once you establish yourself as a critically acclaimed novelist, there's nothing else to prove so write as you will...