Quichotte by Salman Rushdie

In this novel, Salman Rushdie takes on many aspects of our modern lives through the lens of the Don Quixote story.  In this version, Quichotte is an Indian pharmaceutical salesman who spends his life traveling the roads of America as he visits doctors and sells them the various medicines his extremely successful cousin, Dr. Smile, has created in his company.  When Smile decides that Quichotte has become too old and strange, he lays him off.  But Quichotte needs a mission and he soon settles on one.  He falls in love with Salma R, an Indian talk show host whose various life stumbles are part of her draw to the women who watch her show and try to emulate her.  He realizes that it will not be easy to win Salma's love and begins a slow courtship via letters.  He spends his time slowly driving from the West back to New York where she lives, using the trip to make himself a better person and try to understand the world around him.  He is accompanied by the son, Sancho, who Quichotte imagined into life.

The outer story of this story is that of novelist, Sam DuChamp, a former spy novelist who has created Quichotte to work out his own issues.  DuChamp needs to reconcile with his sister.  He fell out with her decades ago and now feels the need to reunite with her, only to find that she is losing a battle with cancer.  As he works through this trauma, he also uses the Quichotte story to work through other issues.

Rushdie takes on many issues in this novel.  There is the issue of opioid addiction, and Rushdie has a personal issue with this, having lost his youngest sister to it thirteen years ago.  There is the racism that Quichotte and Sancho encounter on their long journey across America.  There is the corruption of massive corporations.  There is the promise and danger of technology in our daily lives.  There is the danger of television and reality programming that promises truth while delivering a sculptured, manufactured lie.  Readers will find much to think and talk about as they read this novel and unwind its many layers.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.