Much of the current conversation around Rushdie understandably centres on the explicitly political aspects of his work: the 1989 fatwa, the continued willingness to critique religion even in the face of death threats. And yet, for me, 19(1)(a) was a reminder that writers can be 'dangerous' (in the best of ways) even when they aren't dealing with hot-button subjects, or mocking an ancient book that people hold sacred, or criticising a current authoritarian government.
