The Possessed by Elif Batuman - ISBN: 9781921656644
Paperback
Russian lit, giant apes, and academic obsession collide hilariously.

The Possessed

Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them

  • Paperback

    304 pages

  • Release Date

    27 April 2010

Summary

The Possessed draws on Elif Batuman’s articles in various magazines to tell the true story of one woman’s intellectual and sentimental education and her many strange encounters with scholars devoted to classic Russian writers.

In a series of intertwined essays about her life—and other people’s lives—in the world of Russian literature and scholarship, Batuman has written a funny, smart and self-deprecating book about Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy and Chekhov and the academics who worsh…

Book Details

ISBN-13:9781921656644
ISBN-10:1921656646
Author:Elif Batuman
Publisher:Text Publishing
Imprint:The Text Publishing Company
Format:Paperback
Number of Pages:304
Release Date:27 April 2010
Weight:274g
Dimensions:45mm x 210mm x 138mm
What They're Saying

Critics Review

‘Hilarious and remarkable…Rich in historic detail about Russian authors and literature and thoughtfully constructed, each essay is an amalgam of critical analysis, cultural criticism, and serious contemplation of big ideas like that of identity, intellectual legacy, and authorship.’ * Literary Hub *
‘In this delectable collection of essays, [Batuman] describes her travels to such perplexing locales as Tolstoy’s former estate, Uzbekistan, a monastery on an Adriatic island, and graduate school. Hers is a lifelong quest for the grandiose, the melancholic, and—crucially—the absurd.’ * Slate *

About The Author

Elif Batuman

Elif Batuman was born in New York City and grew up in New Jersey. She now lives in San Francisco. Her articles have appeared in the New Yorker, Harper’s Magazine and the literary journal n+1. She is the recipient of a Rona Jaffe Foundaton Writers’ Award and teaches at Stanford University.

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