Rushdie is an acrobat with words. He pulls language around like a contortionist, but unlike that creepy feeling of watching a contortionist, you can glory in his ability without being unsettled. There are a number of writers who have great facility with words and wordplay but lack Rushdie's ability to give it all a wonderful structure and plot.

Midnight's Children follows the life of Saleem Sinai who was born at the same moment as independent India. Rushdie gives the reader history through the strange lens of magical realism.