In this book we follow Selin during her second year at Harvard and if you think this is going to be a story about a privileged, sometimes self-absorbed, naive, overthinker, artsy 19 year old Turkish-American girl who just wants to get laid, read sad Russian novels, obsess over some loser and listen to Fiona Apple, well... you are correct. And it's amazing. If you liked The Idiot you have to read this sequel because it's even better.

The sequel to Batuman’s The Idiot, this follows Selin during her second year at Harvard. Selin is back, a Russian literature major, distraught over Ivan just leaving her, and obsessed with trying to figure out what went wrong - including consulting Kierkegaard’s Either/Or for clues. Selin as a sophomore is just as anxious, overwrought, and philosophical as she was in The Idiot.

Batuman captures the feelings of being a university student so well - at least in my experience. Thinking so much and trying to figure out so much. Either/Or is just as delightful as The Idiot, wandering through Selin’s thoughts and as she grapples with how to be a writer, what sex is all about, and what it means to make your own choices.

This book is so great, and I would like to write more expansively about it in the future after I have some time to think. But for now I will say that it builds on The Idiot so well, and I am so glad we got to know Selin more. This is a dense book filled with a lot of references to other books but Batuman writes in this style so well that it is quite accessible and reading it only makes you feel smarter and have the urge to read more and know more. I want to read it again and write a longer review, but for now, just wanted to say thanks to the publisher!!