Camden Conference Book Discussion -- "Notes on a Foreign Country: An American Abroad in a Post-American World" by Suzy Hansen

The Camden Conference and the Auburn Public Library invite you to a book discussion of "Notes on a Foreign Country: An American Abroad in a Post-American World" by Suzy Hansen.

In the wake of the 9/11 attacks and the invasion of Iraq, Suzy Hansen was enjoying success as a journalist for a 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 city perched between East and West, and a naïve sense of the Islamic world beyond. Over the course of years of living in Turkey and traveling in Greece, Egypt, Afghanistan, and Iran, she learned a great deal about these countries and their cultures. But the most unsettling surprise would be what she learned about her own country - and herself, an American abroad in the era of American decline.

Blending memoir, journalism, and history, 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 national and global turmoil.

This discussion will take place in person in the Conference Room on the ground floor.  This is a discussion of the book; the author will not be present at this event. However, Suzy Hansen, the author, is a speaker at this year's Camden Conference (see their website below for more details).

Please register below or call the Reference Desk at 207-333-6640, ext. 4.  Books will be available on or after January 5 and can be picked up at the Reference Desk on the 2nd floor.  Thanks to funding provided by the Camden Conference, the copy of the book is yours to keep.

The Camden Conference was founded in 1987 as a nonprofit, non-partisan educational organization whose mission is to foster informed discourse on world issues.

The 2026 conference, Today's Middle East: Power, Politics, and Players, "will explore how traditional and emerging powers are reshaping relationships and testing alliances across this globally vital region." "The Middle East region remains one of the world’s most intractable trouble spots. It is a volatile arena where regional powers, global interests, and local aspirations intersect in ever-evolving and often violent ways."

The 2026 Camden Conference will take place on February 20-22, 2026, and will be in person in Camden, Maine (two additional satellite venues: Strand Theatre in Rockland, Maine; Lunt Auditorium in Falmouth, Maine; + available to livestream worldwide). 

For more details on this Conference, visit their website at camdenconference.org.