“Joseph Anton”

I only read the review, not the book. What puzzled me was not any lack of self-awareness but rather this bit:

The title of Mr. Rushdie’s new memoir . . . comes from the alias he assumed when British police told him back in 1989 that he needed a pseudonym: the Joseph comes from Joseph Conrad, the Anton from Anton Chekhov. The protection officers issued to him by the British government soon took to calling him “Joe,” an abbreviation he says he detested.

The thing that I don’t understand is why he detested the nickname. If I were in a comparable situation, I think I’d appreciate if my security detail gave me a friendly nickname. Then again, with the stress that Rushdie’s been under, I can imagine all sorts of personality transformations.

5 thoughts on ““Joseph Anton”

  1. What’s hard to understand about that? I have a long name and am not really a fan of people shortening it, especially in formal/work conversations. I know an Andrew who objects to Andy and a Daniel who will not be called Dan or Danny.

  2. It may have been some underlying negative association with “Joe” [e.g. GI Joe]that Rush only became fully aware after people started calling him Joe and it was too late to undo Joseph.

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