For the Guardian, she named her top ten tales of Americans in Europe, including:The Dean's December by Saul BellowRead about the other titles on the list.
This one goes against the grain: here Europe isn't a romanticised seat of ancient culture, but a bleak place to escape some bleaker American problems. Corde, the dean of a Chicago college, travels with his wife to Bucharest to see his dying mother-in-law. Having made himself a target of hate for some influential people back in Chicago, and having also ended up at the centre of a controversial trial in which two blacks are accused of killing a white student, Corde has much to hide from. But communist Romania's decay and corruption only highlight all he's tried to leave behind, and he comes to realise Europe is no exit at all.
Also see: Alex Berenson's five favorite books on Americans abroad and Charles Glass's five books on Americans abroad.
--Marshal Zeringue
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