Hanif Kureishi and Carlo Turn Paralysis Into Dialogue — SkimNews
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- Hanif Kureishi suffered a fall on Boxing Day 2022 that left him tetraplegic; he wrote the memoir Shattered during the long shock, with no movement in his hands or legs.
- Are You With Me Now? was co-written with Kureishi’s son Carlo in conversations held from 10am to 1pm, with each chapter emerging from their exchange and the collection developing a more outward-looking, dialogue-based feel.
- Shattered includes the stark detail of Kureishi’s iPad asking “Are you still there?” when paralysis prevents him from refreshing the screen; the new title also echoes a song he heard while Isabella drove in Italy.
- Carlo pushes one argument about art versus politics toward Gaza, insisting that it is the only subject, while Kureishi wants the discussion to center on beauty.
- Carlo argues for AI’s usefulness, but a sex-chatbot experiment ends in shared embarrassment and their wider collaboration illustrates the technology’s limits.
- Substack supplied the initial outlet for Kureishi’s essays, whose readers write back, giving the work a discursive energy and making the finished collection feel more outward-looking.
- Isabella’s marriage to Kureishi closes the collection, with Elton John arriving in a cherry-red Bentley as Kureishi declares that he is compelled to be present despite difficult sex and continuing desire.
Why it matters: For Kureishi and Carlo, the three-hour dictation sessions turn paralysis into a shared authorship process, changing the finished collection from a stunned, homesick register into a more outward-looking dialogue. Their exchanges also test AI through a sex-chatbot experiment and reveal where the technology falls short.
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