Notes on a Foreign Country: An American Abroad in a Post-American World

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About Notes On A Foreign Country: An American Abroad In A

Product Description Winner of the Overseas Press Club of America's Cornelius Ryan Award • Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in NonfictionNew York Times Book Review Notable Book • Named a Best Book of the Year by New York Magazine and The Progressive"A deeply honest and brave portrait of of an individual sensibility reckoning with her country's violent role in the world." ―Hisham Matar, The New York Times Book Review In the wake of the September 11 attacks and the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, Suzy Hansen, who grew up in an insular conservative town in New Jersey, was enjoying early success as a journalist for a high-profile New York newspaper. Increasingly, though, the disconnect between the chaos of world events and the response at home took on pressing urgency for her. Seeking to understand the Muslim world that had been reduced to scaremongering headlines, she moved to Istanbul. Hansen arrived in Istanbul with romantic ideas about a mythical city perched between East and West, and with a naïve sense of the Islamic world beyond. Over the course of her many years of living in Turkey and traveling in Greece, Egypt, Afghanistan, and Iran, she learned a great deal about these countries and their cultures and histories and politics. But the greatest, most unsettling surprise would be what she learned about her own country―and herself, an American abroad in the era of American decline. It would take leaving her home to discover what she came to think of as the two Americas: the country and its people, and the experience of American power around the world. She came to understand that anti-Americanism is not a violent pathology. It is, Hansen writes, “a broken heart . . . A one-hundred-year-old relationship.” Blending memoir, journalism, and history, and deeply attuned to the voices of those she met on her travels, Notes on a Foreign Country is a moving reflection on America’s place in the world. It is a powerful journey of self-discovery and revelation―a profound reckoning with what it means to be American in a moment of grave national and global turmoil. Review "Deeply honest and brave . . . A sincere and intelligent act of self-questioning . . . Hansen is doing something both rare and necessary." ―Hisham Matar, The New York Times Book Review (cover) "A piercingly honest critique of the unexamined white American life." ―The New Yorker "Informed by deep reading in the history of U.S. foreign policy . . . At a time when our wrenching politics have turned our gaze on ourselves, [Hansen's] book is a necessary tonic." ―Christian Lorentzen, New York Magazine "Searching and searing . . . [Suzy Hansen] combines a brisk history of America’s anguished intervention in the region; artful reporting on how citizens in Turkey and its neighbors view the United States today; and unsparing self-reflection to explain how she, an Ivy League-educated journalist, could be so ignorant of the extent of her country’s role in remaking the post-World War II world . . . Notes on a Foreign Country is a testament to one journalist’s courage in digging deep within herself to understand the real story and to make sure she gets it right." ―Barbara Spindel, The Christian Science Monitor"[Hansen] asks probing and difficult questions that left me ruminating about their significance in our current political climate . . . An insightful read for any American who is, has been, or will be living abroad . . . Hansen’s book serves as a call to serious reflection and action for white Americans, even, and perhaps especially, the liberal, well traveled, and well intentioned." ―Rebecca Barr, Los Angeles Review of Books "Compelling . . . [Hansen] vividly captures the disorientation we experience when our preconceived notions collide with uncomfortable discoveries . . . Rare and refreshing . . . Hansen's principal injunction to Americans to understand how others view them and their country's policies is timely and urgent." ―Ali Wyne, The Washington Post "Hansen turns a coming-