{"product_id":"the-possessed-elif-batuman-9780374532185","title":"The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eOne of \u003ci\u003eThe Economist\u003c\/i\u003e's 2011 Books of the Year \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cb\u003eFrom the author of \u003ci\u003eEither\/Or \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe Idiot\u003c\/i\u003e, Elif Batuman's \u003ci\u003eThe Possessed\u003c\/i\u003e presents the true but unlikely stories of lives devoted--Absurdly! Melancholically! Beautifully!--to the Russian Classics. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e No one who read Batuman's first article (in the journal \u003ci\u003en+1\u003c\/i\u003e) will ever forget it. \"Babel in California\" told the true story of various human destinies intersecting at Stanford University during a conference about the enigmatic writer Isaac Babel. Over the course of several pages, Batuman managed to misplace Babel's last living relatives at the San Francisco airport, uncover Babel's secret influence on the making of \u003ci\u003eKing Kong\u003c\/i\u003e, and introduce her readers to a new voice that was unpredictable, comic, humane, ironic, charming, poignant, and completely, unpretentiously full of love for literature. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Batuman's subsequent pieces--for \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eHarper's Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e, and the \u003ci\u003eLondon Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e-- have made her one of the most sought-after and admired writers of her generation, and its best traveling companion. In \u003ci\u003eThe Possessed \u003c\/i\u003ewe watch her investigate a possible murder at Tolstoy's ancestral estate. We go with her to Stanford, Switzerland, and St. Petersburg; retrace Pushkin's wanderings in the Caucasus; learn why Old Uzbek has one hundred different words for crying; and see an eighteenth-century ice palace reconstructed on the Neva. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Love and the novel, the individual in history, the existential plight of the graduate student: all find their place in \u003ci\u003eThe Possessed\u003c\/i\u003e. Literally and metaphorically following the footsteps of her favorite authors, Batuman searches for the answers to the big questions in the details of lived experience, combining fresh readings of the great Russians, from Pushkin to Platonov, with the sad and funny stories of the lives they continue to influence--including her own.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Elif Batuman\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0374532184\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780374532185\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Farrar, Straus and Giroux\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 02\/16\/2010\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 304\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.59lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.22h x 5.60w x 0.81d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAward:\u003c\/b\u003e National Book Critics Circle Award - Finalist\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAward:\u003c\/b\u003e Literary Award - Runner-Up\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal Prepub Alert\u003c\/i\u003e 10\/15\/2009 pg. 57\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 11\/02\/2009 pg. 43\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 11\/15\/2009 pg. 64\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e 02\/15\/2010 pg. 21\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e 03\/21\/2010 pg. 13\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e 03\/28\/2010 pg. 20\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNY Times Notable Bks of Year\u003c\/i\u003e 12\/05\/2010 pg. 30\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eEntertainment Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 01\/07\/2011 pg. 74\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly Best Books\u003c\/i\u003e 11\/08\/2010 pg. 28","brand":"Elif Batuman","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44051618234623,"sku":"9780374532185","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_24dc880d-bacc-4ec6-a697-21d22673b30c.jpg?v=1685014160","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-possessed-elif-batuman-9780374532185","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}