Goodreads asked Jennifer Vandever:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Jennifer Vandever I started writing American Tango in 2008, inspired, like my main character by an article in the New York Times travel section about Americans living in Argentina. I remember thinking how cool it would be to just pick up and move to Buenos Aires, envisioning some romantic, idealized version of my life ... and then very quickly thinking, "nope, I'm in my thirties now, it's too late for that kind of thing."

I began thinking about how we start closing doors to experiences based on age or fears and beliefs about who we are and what's "allowed." A character started to form in my mind: a rocky marriage, unfulfilled dreams, fertility issues, aging parents -- a lot of the things we confront as we enter the age of "grown-up" problems. I was also visiting my hometown of Portland a lot (caregiving for my own aging parents) and finding rich material for satire (pre-Portlandia). A novel about the challenges and comedy of modern life took shape.

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