The Possessed cover art

The Possessed

Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them

Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Unlimited access to our all-you-can-listen catalogue of 15K+ audiobooks and podcasts
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

The Possessed

By: Elif Batuman
Narrated by: Elif Batuman
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

About this listen

Roaming from Tashkent to San Francisco, this is the true story of one budding writer's strange encounters with the fanatics who are devoted - absurdly! melancholically! ecstatically! - to the Russian classics. Combining fresh readings of the great Russians from Gogol to Goncharov with the sad and funny stories of the lives they continue to influence, The Possessed introduces a brilliant and distinctive new voice: comic, humane, charming, poignant and completely, and unpretentiously, full of an infectious love for literature.

©2012 Elif Batuman (P)2017 Audible, Ltd
Adventure Travel Literary History & Criticism Russian & Soviet World Literature Russia Funny Soviet Union
All stars
Most relevant
This book is dream-like, it’s a sweet and transparent recount of the author’s clearheaded adventures in literary academia. Her narration is soft and sweet and infuses the text with self-effacing melancholy. Five stars.

Like nothing I’ve listened to before

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.