Twenty-five Favorite Novels About Americans Abroad

(in alphabetical order by destination)

Algeria, then Morocco: The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles
Antarctica: Antarctica by Kim Stanley Robinson
Argentina: Atmospheric Disturbances by Rivka Galchen
Belize: How the Dead Dream by Lydia Millet
Brazil: Memoir from Antproof Case by Mark Helprin
Bulgaria: What Belongs To You by Garth Greenwell
Czech Republic: Prague Summer by Jeffrey Condran
Finland: Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name by Vendela Vida
France, Burgundy: A Sport and a Pastime by James Salter
France, Paris: The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy
France, Paris again: Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
France, Touraine: The Chateau by William Maxwell
Germany, then the Czech Republic: All Shall Be Well; And All Shall Be Well; And All Manner of Things Shall Be Well by Tod Wodicka
Ivory Coast: Whiteman by Tony D’Souza
Italy, Bellagio: The Flamethrowers by Rachel Kushner
Italy, Venice: Vaporetto 13 by Robert Girardi
Ivu’ivu (a fictional island modeled after Angra dos Reis in Brazil): The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanagihara
Japan: Pull Me Under by Kelly Luce
Mars: The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
Mexico, then Italy, Germany, Morocco, India, and Japan: Less by Andrew Sean Greer
Namibia: The Second Coming of Mavala Shikongo by Peter Orner
New Zealand: Nobody Is Ever Missing by Catherine Lacey
Nicaragua: Vacation by Deb Olin Unferth
Peru (though unspecified): Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
Soviet Union: The Queen’s Gambit by Walter Tevis

— December 18, 2020