Salman Rushdie returns to best sellers list, Jennette McCurdy's 'I'm Glad My Mom Died' makes debut

Mary Cadden, USA TODAY
·3 min read

"Where the Crawdads Sing" continues its dominance on the USA TODAY's Best Selling Books list. Keeping its No. 1 spot for a seventh straight week, Delia Owens' book has seen a total of 20 weeks at the top spot and 206 weeks on the list since its debut in 2018.

Michael Mann and Meg Gardiner's "Heat 2" is the highest fiction debut on the list at No. 11. A sequel to the Oscar-nominated director Mann's 1995 film “Heat,” the novel explores the gritty world of international crime organizations and the agents who investigate them. A USA TODAY review gave the book ★★★ out of four stars and calls it "a must for fans of the film."

British author Salman Rushdie poses during a photo session in Paris on Sept. 10, 2018.
British author Salman Rushdie poses during a photo session in Paris on Sept. 10, 2018.

Salman Rushdie's 'Satanic Verses' debuts

"The Satanic Verses" (Random House, 576 pp.),  the novel that led to death threats against author Salman Rushdie, debuts at No. 59 on USA TODAY''s best sellers list following the assault of the writer. The book was originally published in 1988, before the USA TODAY Bestselling Books list began in 1993. This is the seventh novel of Rushdie's to make the list.

The novel about two Indian actors who fall to the earth and transformed\into symbols of what is angelic and what is evil is considered blasphemous to many Muslims and led to a fatwa, or edict, calling for Rushdie's death from the Iranian leader at the time, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. 

Rushdie suffered wounds to the neck and abdomen after Hadi Matar, 24, attacked him as he was about to give a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in western New York. Matar, who was arrested and charged with attempted second-degree murder and second-degree assault, entered a not-guilty plea in a New York court on Saturday.

Rushdie’s agent, Andrew Wylie of The Wylie Agency, said Sunday to The Associated Press that although Rushdie's “condition is headed in the right direction,” his recovery would be a long process.

More: Who is Salman Rushdie, author who was attacked on stage in New York?

More: Salman Rushdie stabbed: Author taken off ventilator after attack, 'on the road to recovery'

Opinion: Attack on Salman Rushdie reminds us that the pen is mightier than the knife

Jennette McCurdy
Jennette McCurdy

Jennette McCurdy's 'I'm Glad My Mom Died' tops memoirs

"I'm Glad My Mom Died" (Simon & Schuster, 320 pp., out now), debuts at No. 3 on this week's list. McCurdy uses dark humor to explore the traumas of early fame in an industry she never wanted to join. It was all for her "narcissistic" mother, Debbie, who, before dying of breast cancer in 2013, allegedly steered her daughter into compromising situations. Instead of providing love and support.

The title of her first book is intentionally harsh and to some, inappropriate. After all, it's a societal expectation that love for our family members be unconditional.

"I love a bold title, and I never would have titled it that if I didn't feel like I earned (it) in the writing of the book," McCurdy tells USA TODAY. "I definitely would not have been able to confront or face my experience of eating disorders had my mother not passed away … because my eating disorders were so endorsed and supported and encouraged by her."

For McCurdy, writing this memoir symbolized empowerment over her narrative. And understanding that it's OK not to forgive her late mother provided her peace:

"I will say that somehow in letting go of forgiveness being the goal, I got to a place where I was able to find some degree of compassion, some degree of sympathy for my mom."

More: How Jennette McCurdy escaped her narcissistic mother's 'excruciating' abuse

More: How do I know if someone in my life is a narcissist? Here's what it is – and what it isn't

Contributing: Barbara VanDenburgh, Jenna Ryu, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Salman Rushdie, Jennette McCurdy books make USA TODAY best seller list

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