Midnight's Children prize winners in 1993 and 2008 to celebrate the Booker Prize 25th and 40th anniversary. In 2003, the novel was listed on the BBC's The Big Read poll of the UK's "best-loved novels". It was also added to the list of Great Books of the 20th Century, published by Penguin Books. "Midnight's Children" is a loose allegory for events in India both before and, primarily, after the independence and partition of India. The protagonist and narrator of the story is Saleem Sinai, born at the exact moment when India became an independent country. He was born with telepathic powers, as
Salman Rushdie below). In addition to books, Rushdie has published many short stories, including those collected in "East, West" (1994). "The Moor's Last Sigh", a family epic ranging over some 100 years of India's history was published in 1995. "The Ground Beneath Her Feet" (1999) presents an alternative history of modern rock music. The song of the same name by U2 is one of many song lyrics included in the book; hence Rushdie is credited as the lyricist. He also wrote "Haroun and the Sea of Stories" in 1990. Rushdie has had a string of commercially successful and critically acclaimed novels. His