Elif Batuman's sequel 'Either/Or' follows a young woman's sexual awakening

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel solid read/share Brother William.

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."When I thought back about my college experience, part of the question I had was, 'I feel so wonderful in this relationship now with the woman with whom I hope to spend the rest of my life. Why didn't I do this sooner?' And that was part of the motivation for me to write Either/Or, to go back to that period and revisit why that didn't seem like it was an option, and why it seemed so important to have these relationships with guys.

On what the next book might be

I feel like I'm going to run out of time. If I write another book for [Selin's] next year of college, she's [just] going to be a few years out of college by the time I die of old age. So, I think I'm probably going to skip forward to her thirties because I have some ideas about where she's going to end up with that."

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Interview Highlights
On seeing herself in the protagonist

I was a seeker, I was looking for the meaning of life and how to live. I was the first person in my family to be born in the United States. My whole family is from Turkey and I did go to Harvard like Selin. I was aware that I had this incredible opportunity and I had to make the most of it. And, that if I didn't, it was going to be this giant dishonor. I also knew that I wanted meaning to come from books and from literature. And even though my parents are doctors, they didn't really pressure me to go into science. So I was really just looking for literature to show me the answers, how to live, and how to create a successful life. And that's also the case for Selin in these books."...