The writer is set to release his memoirs, entitled Joseph Anton - the name he used while in hiding, and a reference to his favourite authors Conrad and Chekhov - which tell of how he was forced underground in 1989 over his book.

BBC: Entertainment & Arts

They were under the command not of a government but, rather, of a shadowy organization whose name no one could pronounce, consisting of an obscure Saudi-in-exile and his several thousand followers hiding out in the Afghan desert.

NEWYORKER: Coming Apart