The Idiot
American novelist, born 1977.
The Idiot is a 2017 novel by Elif Batuman. It was shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction in 2018.
On 2 of the 15 lists it was eligible for.
The Novel Index earns a small commission if you buy through our links, at no extra cost to you. It never affects our rankings. More about how we earn.
At a glance
- Author
- Elif Batuman
- First published
- 2017
- Length
- 432 pages (UK paperback)
- Awards
- Women's Prize for Fiction shortlist, 2018
- Pulitzer Prize for Fiction shortlist, 2018
- Genre
- Literary fiction, Coming of age, Migration and identity, Love story
Is The Idiot worth reading?
2 of the 15 best-of lists it could have made include it: the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the Women's Prize for Fiction.
| List | Place | Original |
|---|---|---|
| Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (winners and finalists) (Columbia University, 2018) | Shortlist | See the list |
| Women's Prize for Fiction (winners and shortlists) (Women's Prize Trust, 2018) | Shortlist | See the list |
Best edition of The Idiot
The edition we link to is the Vintage paperback (2018), 432 pages.
- Publisher
- Vintage (paperback, 2018)
- Pages
- 432
- ISBN
- 9780099583172
How critics, prizes and readers rate The Idiot
Prize juries rate it most highly: it earned 27% of the points available on prize lists, against 0% on critics' lists and 0% on readers' and booksellers' lists.
Share of the available points it earned on each kind of list it was eligible for. How the scores work