Anthony Doerr, 33, was picked as one of the best young American novelists by Granta magazine in its latest issue. He has been awarded the Rome Prize, the Discover Prize, the New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award, and two O. Henry Prizes.

Doerr recently veered from writing fiction to non-fiction, penning a memoir and travelogue titled: Four Seasons in Rome: On Twins, Insomnia, and the Biggest Funeral in the History of the World. The book--which hit stores earlier this week--recounts with humor the year that he lived in Rome with his newborn twins sons.

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Doerr savored his stay in Rome, not least for the city's excellent coffee: "The best cappuccino in the universe is in a place called Café Sant'Eustachio (Piazza San Eustachio), close to the back of the Pantheon. It probably appears in a guidebook or two, but who cares if other people know about it; their coffee is knee-bucklingly good. Drink it standing up with a square of dark chocolate. If you like coffee, this place will freak you out. Just don't ask for extra milk and don't order a latte after eleven A.M."

Read an excerpt of Four Seasons in Rome by clicking here. Buy a copy here. And read our Q&A with the author below.

For your travels in general, what is your preference: Window or aisle?

Depends how far I'm going and how much water I'm planning to drink.

The last thing I ate from a minibar?

A very short can of paprika-flavored Pringles in San Jose, Costa Rica. I think it cost five dollars, but it was sort of a chips emergency.

I won't leave home without....

A book that I am confident is good. Especially if I'm going somewhere without bookshops. I'm very careful to avoid the dreaded traveling-with-an-uninteresting-book situation.

The best trip I've ever taken? And why?

I once spent 6 months hiking around New Zealand with a friend from college. We bought a mustard yellow Austin at a car fair for the equivalent of about $600 and drove it from the northern tip of the North Island to the southern end of the South Island, fishing in every river and lake we passed. I'm sure there must have been difficult moments, but in my memory every day of that trip was magical: the huge distances, the crystalline streams, the hour or two we stood and watched fiordland penguins waddle across a beach in a rainstorm.