Elif Batuman's Either/Or was published in 2022. The novel follows a young woman named Selin, who is in her sophomore year at Harvard University sometime in 1996. Selin is struggling at Harvard as her struggles begin to influence her school career, where she is studying literature, language, and philosophy. Influenced by the works of famous philosophers like Søren Kierkegaard, who believed in existentialism, Selin began to evaluate her own life and history. She ruminates on past romantic relationships she engaged in during the summer, as well as her work in Hungary and her interests in traveling across the country and the world. In the end, it is a novel about self-discovery, coming of age, and finding your voice during formative times.
As with her previous novels, Batuman earned exceptionally positive reviews from critics when Either/Or was published. Constance Grady of Vox awarded Batuman's novel 4 out of 5 stars and called the novel "shaggy, strange, and sweet." Alex Clark of The Guardian applauded Batuman's "wonderfully idiosyncratic comic voice" and called it "great literature."
