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Creative Nonfiction

The Idiot

by Elif Batuman
$13.66
The Idiot - Thryft
The Idiot - Thryft

Unique A witty portrayal of college life and self-discovery.

This book would be a great read for anyone navigating the complexities of young adulthood. With its clever writing and relatable characters, "The Idiot" captures the essence of college life and the quest for personal identity. Through Selin's experiences, readers will find themselves reflecting on their own journey of self-discovery. Batuman's blend of humor, linguistics, and romance makes this book a delightful and thought-provoking read.

  • Pulitzer Prize Nominee for Fiction (2018)
  • Los Angeles Times Book Prize Nominee for Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction (2017)
  • Women's Prize for Fiction Nominee (2018)
Note: While we do our best to ensure the accuracy of cover images, ISBNs may at times be reused for different editions of the same title which may hence appear as a different cover.

The Idiot

by Elif Batuman
$13.66
ISBN: 9781910702703
Authors: Elif Batuman
Publisher: Random House Uk
Date of Publication: 2017-06-01
Format: Paperback
Related Collections: Historical Fiction, Contemporary, Literary Fiction
Related Topics: Literature
Goodreads rating: 3.67
(rated by 75693 readers)

Description

It is September 1995. Selin, a Turkish-American college freshman from New Jersey, is about to embark on her first year at Harvard University, where she is deter­mined to decipher the mysteries of language and to become a writer.In between studying psycho­linguistics and the philosophy of language, teaching ESL to a Costa Rican plumber, and befriending her classmate Svetlana (a Serbian refugee from Connecticut), Selin falls in love with a Hungarian maths student in her Russian class. She spends the summer in the Hungarian countryside teaching English to village children, where sad and comic misunderstandings ensue.Full of the razor-sharp evocations of character and place that have long delighted readers of Batuman’s non-fiction, The Idiot tackles literary ambition, female friend­ship, the American dream, Chomskian linguistics, the Russian novel and romantic love. ‘There is hardly a single action we perform in that phase which we would not give anything, in later life, to be able to annul,’ Proust once wrote, ‘but adolescence is the only period in which we learn anything.’
Condition guide

Book Condition Guide

Books in Like New Condition

This book may contain very minor cosmetic defects, but it is in pristine condition. There should be no yellowing, no foxing, no water damage, and no annotations of any kind on the cover and the pages. For paperbacks, there should not be any crease marks on the spine. This book is good as new — lucky you!

*Books may be missing bundle media (e.g. CD, e-book code), if included.

Books in Very Good Condition

This book has been used, but it is still in a clean condition. There should be no foxing or annotations of any kind on the inner pages, but a sparse amount may be present on the cover, title pages, or outside edges of the book. There should be no water damage of any kind. For paperbacks, there may be light crease marks on the spine.

*Books may be missing bundle media (e.g. CD, e-book code), if included.

Books in Good Condition

We do our best to ensure the quality of our books, but there is no escaping the wear and tear that comes with time. Slight foxing and some annotations may be present on the pages and the cover. There should be no water damage of any kind. For paperbacks, there may be several crease marks on the spine.

*Books may be missing bundle media (e.g. CD, e-book code), if included.

Books in Well Read Condition

This is a well-read book, which means that the previous owner probably really enjoyed it! The cover and pages may include moderate foxing and annotations, but the text is not obscured and still readable. Moderate cosmetic defects and minor water damage may be present on the edges of the book. For paperbacks, there may be multiple crease marks on the spine.

*Books may be missing bundle media (e.g. CD, e-book code), if included.

 

Find out more about our process here.

 

Similar Reads

Unique A witty portrayal of college life and self-discovery.

This book would be a great read for anyone navigating the complexities of young adulthood. With its clever writing and relatable characters, "The Idiot" captures the essence of college life and the quest for personal identity. Through Selin's experiences, readers will find themselves reflecting on their own journey of self-discovery. Batuman's blend of humor, linguistics, and romance makes this book a delightful and thought-provoking read.

  • Pulitzer Prize Nominee for Fiction (2018)
  • Los Angeles Times Book Prize Nominee for Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction (2017)
  • Women's Prize for Fiction Nominee (2018)
Note: While we do our best to ensure the accuracy of cover images, ISBNs may at times be reused for different editions of the same title which may hence appear as a different cover.