Five books & plays that take you deep inside the ivory tower

Screenwriter Nora Garrett’s debut film, After the Hunt -- directed by Luca Guadagnino and starring Julia Roberts, Ayo Edebiri, Andrew Garfield, Michael Stuhlbarg and Chloë Sevigny -- is set on the campus of Yale University.

At Bustle Garrett tagged "five college-set works that informed After the Hunt." One title on the list:

The Idiot by Elif Batuman

What this novel really captures is that awkward, early phase of college where you've gotten into an elite institution that you thought would give you the sense of identity you wanted — and you're still finding yourself awkward, bumbling, and estranged from the ability to feel yourself at the apex of your intelligence, even in these rarefied spaces. I think that the shame of that and the attempt to work through it is a reference for Maggie, but just generally a reference for that tender identity point.

Read about the other entries on the list.

The Idiot is among Isabelle McConville's ten notable campus novels, Christine Ma-Kellams's seven books about unconventional situationships, Lauren Hutton's ten books about young women in (and out) of love, and Katherine Heiny's eight best books about modern dating.

Also see Elise Juska’s list of eight of the greatest campus novels ever written, Ali Lowe's list of six of the best campus crime novels, Kate McCusker's five top campus novels, Michael Woodson's ten top campus novels, and K.D. Walker's eight top campus novels set in grad school.

--Marshal Zeringue