Who says authors don’t read reviews and notices of their work? Salman Rushdie responded to a December 15 letter to The Guardian books section which attacked him and caught John Updike in the crossfire by firing off one of his own the next day.

“Satanic view that equates democracies and dictatorships” notes that the letter-writer “misreads John Updike’s ‘blue mailboxes’ speech at the Pen congress of 1986. Updike was not talking selfishly about sending away his writing and receiving cheques in return. He was using the mailboxes as a metaphor of the easy, free exchange of ideas and information in an open society.”

Rushdie also goes on to talk about how the letter-writer misrepresents him as well. Here’s the link to Rushdie’s letter, which has a link to the original. Thanks to member Larry Randen for calling it to our attention.