Since I arrived, two years ago, I’ve grown more interested in works about American expats, especially those in which the characters are not quite comfortable in their settings. I wanted to see what this literature said about the ways in which expat life in Europe evolved over the course of American history. I also wanted to find works that reveal, intentionally or not, how their authors constructed their own identities as Americans.
Thomas Beckwith is an American living in Dublin. His new European perspective prompted him to explore how American literature has handled the expat experience over the last two centuries. Read more from his in-depth essay over at The Millions.
