Elif Batuman on Life as Literature (and "Either/Or")

Elif Batuman on Kierkegaard, sex, and her new book "Either/Or."
The beloved novelist joins Joshua Jelly-Schapiro for a conversation at Pioneer Works.
In her acclaimed debut novel The Idiot, Batuman introduced us to Selin, a reluctant protagonist and unforgettable narrator searching her way through freshman year at Harvard, grappling with the confusions of first love and the growing realization that she is doomed to become a writer. In Either/Or, it’s sophomore year and Selin’s quest for self-knowledge finds her trying to figure out the meaning of everything that happened over the summer. But then she sets out, with a prod from Kierkegaard, to seek the kinds of experiences she’ll need in order to ponder a lasting question: how does one live a life as interesting as a novel-a life worthy of becoming a novel-without going crazy?
This project is supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Program in Public Understanding of Science and Technology, bridging the two cultures of science and the arts.
Subscribe to Pioneer Works: kzbin.info...
More from the Science Studios: • Science
Read more on the Pioneer Works Broadcast: pioneerworks.org/broadcast

[@juliak9089]

I'm running my own book club in English and we're reading this exact book and enjoying the narrative ❤ Thank you,Elif ! ❤

[@barbarahoeller4342]

Brilliant writer

[@heliopolis]

Awesome novelist.

[@blue---monday]

I'm in love