Leaving the Atocha Station

Adam Gordon is an unhappy young American poet who's living in Madrid for a year on a poetry fellowship. He’s disillusioned with his life and himself and often escapes into drugs and alcohol. While this isn’t a book I would have read if not for my trip, I appreciated the way it approached and talked about translation. Plus, the strong sense of place and mentions of restaurants and neighborhoods had me googling aplenty—and marveling when I realized we were going to some of the same places!