The idiot
Batuman, Elif, 1977-2018
Book
Selin, a tall, highly strung Turkish-American from New Jersey turns up at Harvard and finds herself dangerously overwhelmed by the challenges and possibilities of adulthood. She studies linguistics and literature, teaches ESL and spends a lot of time thinking about what language - and languages - can and cannot do. Along the way she befriends Svetlana, a cosmopolitan Serb, and obsesses over Ivan, a mathematician from Hungary. The two conduct a hilarious relationship that culminates with Selin spending the summer teaching English in a Hungarian village and enduring a series of surprising excursions. Throughout her journeys, Selin ponders profound questions about how culture and language shape who we are, how difficult it is to be a failed writer, and how baffling love is.
Main title:
The idiot / Elif Batuman.
Author:
Work:
Imprint:
London : Vintage, 2018.
Collation:
422 pages ; 20 cm.
Notes:
Originally published: New York: Penguin Press, 2017.
ISBN:
9780099583172 (pbk)0099583178 (pbk)
LC class:
PS3602.A9237
Language:
English
BRN:
322093