Salman Rushdie hasn’t quite gotten over a negative review of his latest novel.
The novelist took a shot at New York Times book critic Parul Sehgal on Twitter over her 2019 review of Rushdie’s Quichotte, in which she called him “a writer in free fall.” (Contra Sehgal, a reviewer for Kirkus thought the novel was “a fine piece of literary satire.”)
Rushdie responded to a reader who mentioned Sehgal’s review, writing, “If you want better reviews, there are plenty of good ones. But a better idea is to throw away the reviews and just see what you think of the book.”
He then followed that up with a tweet that read, “Coleridge wrote about the ‘motiveless malignity’ of Iago towards Othello. There are critics I think of as ‘Iagos’ of this type. @parul_sehgalis high on that list.”
“It’s not that deep, man,” Sehgal responded. “Didn’t like the book + stand by my review.”
Rushdie shot back, “You can dish it out but you can’t take it, huh.”
Rushdie’s comparison struck some Twitter users as odd. “Is he...Othello?” tweeted one person to Sehgal.
“Apparently?” the critic responded. “This is the funniest thing all quarantine. Am honestly delighted + grateful.”
Writer and podcaster Maris Kreizman jokingly suggested Rushdie’s saltiness might be due to our strange new era.
Michael Schaub is a Texas-based journalist and regular contributor to NPR.
