From ''Best of the Booker'' winner Salman Rushdie, an incisive and inspiring collection of non-fiction essays, criticism and speeches that takes readers on a thrilling journey through the evolution of language and culture.

''One of the greatest writers of our age'' Neil Gaiman

Across a wide variety of subjects, Rushdie delves into the nature of storytelling as a deeply human need and what emerges is a love letter to literature itself. Throughout, he shares his personal encounters, on the page and in person, with storytellers from Shakespeare to Toni Morrison and revels in the creative lines that can join art and life. Rushdie considers, too, the nature of truth and looks afresh at migration, multiculturalism and censorship.

''Essential reading... Powerful'' Financial Times

''Rushdie is vital, expansive, the critic as storyteller, championing his subjects with gusto'' TLS