Salman Rushdie off ventilator and ‘talking and joking’ a day after brutal stabbing attack

Author Salman Rushdie was off a ventilator and in good spirits Saturday, a day after being stabbed as he went to give a lecture in upstate Chautauqua, his agent confirmed.

Rushdie, 75, remained in serious condition but was said to be “talking (and joking)”, fellow author Aatish Taseer tweeted.

Rushdie’s agent Andrew Wylie confirmed the update, a day after saying author was likely to lose an eye.

The author also suffered a damaged liver and severed nerves in his arm, the agent said.

Hadi Matar, 24, pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and assault charges in connection with the shocking public attack at a nonprofit education and retreat center.

Prosecutors said Matar had preplanned the assault, getting an advance pass to Rushdie’s lecture with a fake ID.

In 1989, Iran’s Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa ordering Muslims to kill him after alleging his novel “The Satanic Verses” mocked the religion.

Matar, of Fairview, New Jersey, harbored sympathies toward Iran, law enforcement sources told The Post.

Rushdie has lived in Manhattan for more than two decades and discussed the death order with the German magazine Stern just two weeks ago, sounding like he was not particularly worried about his safety.

“A fatwa like that is a serious matter, fortunately the Internet didn’t exist back then. The Iranians had to fax the fatwa to the mosques. That was a long time ago, you know, but now my life is relatively normal again,” he said.

“I think many people today live with similar threats as I did then. And the fax machine that was used against me is like a bicycle against a Ferrari compared to the internet.”

With Post wires