Rushdie's new novel about ageing travelling salesman who falls in love with TV star

Salman Rushdie's new novel is inspired by the classic "Don Quixote" and is the story of an ageing travelling salesman who falls in love with a TV star and sets off to drive across America on a quest to prove himself worthy of her hand. This book "Quichotte", acquired by Penguin Random House India, will be published in India under the Hamish Hamilton imprint in August.

The tragicomic tale of "Quichotte" is one of a deranged time, and deals, along the way, with father-son relationships, sibling quarrels, racism, the opioid crisis, cyber-spies, and the end of the world, the publishers said. "In 'Quichotte', this rich epic of the immigrant experience in modern America, we are delighted to see that Rushdie is back - with his signature dazzling prose - to tell the tale of the here and now within the realm that all that could have been," says Manasi Subramaniam, senior commissioning editor at Penguin Random House India.

"In his quixotic storytelling, he remains the master fabulist, always playful and humorous and detailed, and never failing at the same time to be relevant, provocative and marvellously original. We believe that this is the perfect follow-on to the extraordinary success of 'The Golden House'," she says. Rushdie is the author of 13 novels including "Midnight's Children", for which he won the Man Booker Prize and Booker of Bookers Prize, and one collection of short stories.

He has also published four works of non-fiction, including the internationally acclaimed bestseller, "Joseph Anton", and has co-edited two anthologies.