He lives in the present, or what Rushdie calls the age of "Anything-Can-Happen," a time when it "was no longer possible to predict the weather, or the likelihood of war, or the outcome of elections." Miss Salma R.
Quichotte is introduced as a 70-year-old man of "retreating mental powers" suffering from brain damage caused by watching too much television. Throughout it all Rushdie serves up his hallmark social criticism. The two stories bounce off each other in delightful ways, often matching each other character-for-character, before finally interweaving in a blockbuster ending that feels earned, even if not quite real. The crazy plot can't truly be summarized in a 500-word review, but Rushdie tells two stories simultaneously, Quichotte's quest to meet and live happily-ever-after with Miss Salma R., the aforementioned talk-show host of Indian origin, and the man writing his story, pen name Sam DuChamp, who has written only "modestly (un)successful" spy novels until he conceives Quichotte. There are mastodons in New Jersey, a talking cricket ("you can call me Jiminy") and even Oprah Winfrey has a legitimate talk-show competitor.
Rushdie's so-called "magical realism" (that's lit-crit for "making stuff up in an otherwise mostly real setting") is on full display here. It does help to have an open mind, however.
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