Maybe I should start a Tumblr all about Elif Batuman and get a book deal?

“I’m so happy and honored to learn that the American people are only slightly less interested in my harrowing undercover journey to the inner circles of graduate school as they are in the significantly more harrowing journey of Agent Dobyns!”

(Via her blog)

“The mid-20s is also such a bad time in your life. You will probably be depressed and miserable anyway. If you are in a breakup, you might as well go all the way and spend the summer in Samarkand, with no air-conditioning, learning a language you have no use for. At least it adds some romance to a depressing situation.”

Via NJ.Com

“The night I had that conversation with Matej, I happened to hear “First We Take Manhattan,” a haunting song with the marvelous lyrics: “I love your body, and your spirit and your clothes.” I think “body, spirit and clothes” encapsulates the problem of the person. We want to fathom Babel’s body, spirit, and clothes—and yet, confronted by his old sandals, we find ourselves no closer to the answers we’re seeking.”

Talking about Leonard Cohen and Isaac Babel at Largehearted Boy.

“At breakfast I used to read, but now I watch Jon Stewart.”

(Via)