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Elif Batuman on Writing Fiction vs. Nonfiction | The New Yorker

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“Constructed Worlds,” which appears in this week’s issue, describes am young Turkish-American woman’s first few months as a freshman at Harvard, in the mid-nineties. Does it draw on your own experiences as a Harvard student? Yes, like Selin, I was a freshman in 1995, and she and I share some experiences. The story skewers—hilariously—the extreme pretensions of Selin’s professors. How much is satire and how much simply true to life? I think that most of the absurd things the professors say in “” are actually susceptible to a non-absurd reading; it’s just that Selin can’t seem to help zeroing in on the most absurd interpretation. It’s like a gravitational pull. I don’t think she distorts the professors’ words, exactly, but she definitely emphasizes the more bizarre aspects. And I do think there always are bizarre aspects to emphasize. In this way, the portrayal of the professors is both satirical and true to life. “Constructed Worlds” comes from a novel draft that I wrote in my early twe

Save this story Save this story PHOTOGRAPH BY BEOWULF SHEEHAN “Constructed Worlds,” which appears in this week’s issue, describes am young Turkish-American woman’s first few months as a freshman at Harvard, in the mid-nineties. Does it draw on your own experiences as a Harvard student? Yes, like Selin, I was a freshman in 1995, and she and I share some experiences. The story skewers—hilariously—the extreme pretensions of Selin’s professors. How much is satire and how much simply true to life? I think that most of the absurd things the professors say in “ Constructed Worlds ” are actually susce

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