The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie

This book does an excellent job juggling several different plots at the same time. First, there's Gibreel Farishta and Saladin Chamcha, the two lone survivors of a terrorist hijacking of a plane over London, who are transformed into an angel and a devil during their fall back to earth. Then there are the Satanic Verses themselves--Mahound, the prophet, struggles with the decision of whether to acknowledge the goddesses Allat, Uzza, and Manat. Ayesha's pilgrimage on foot to Mecca was also striking. The book is also very well embedded in a world literary scene: references to other works abound. I look forward to re-reading this book, as it is the kind of book that richly repays the attention put into it. Booker shortlisted, 1988