East, West

"East, West" (ISBN 0-394-28150-0) is an anthology of short stories written by Salman Rushdie in 1994. The book is divided into three main sections, entitled "East", "West", and "East, West", each section containing stories whose topics center around their respective geographical areas (in the "East, West" section both worlds are influenced by each other). Though Rushdie himself never divulged the exact inspirations for his stories in "East, West", it is common thought that the central themes of each of his stories are based around his personal experiences as an immigrant in England during the time of the "fatwas" issued against his life.

Contents

"East"

*"Good Advice Is Rarer Than Rubies"
*"The Free Radio"
*"The Prophet's Hair" - the story involves a relic that contains Muhammad's hair that was stolen out of the Hazratbal mosque in Kashmir. In reality this mosque claims to have this relic.

"West"

*"Yorick" - a fictional account of the childhood life of Prince Hamlet and his father's court jester Yorick, of the Shakespeare play bearing his name.
*"At The Auction of the Ruby Slippers" - the ruby slippers refer to the slippers of Dorothy Gale in "The Wizard of Oz". (Note that in the written story of the Wizard of Oz these slippers were silver. In the movie adaptation however these slippers were ruby).
*"Christopher Columbus and Queen Isabella of Spain Consummate Their Relationship (Santa Fé, AD 1492)"

"East, West"

*"The Harmony of the Spheres"
*"Chekov and Zulu" - the main characters are named after Pavel Chekov and Hikaru Sulu, two fictional characters in "Star Trek".
*"The Courter"