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.
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