It was made into a movie released in 1999 starring Sigourney Weaver, Julianne Moore, David Strathairn, Chloë Sevigny, Louise Fletcher and Marc Donato with a soundtrack by Pat Metheny.

Alice Goodwin, mother of two, school nurse and wife of an aspiring dairy farmer in Wisconsin, is getting ready to take her two daughters and her best friend Theresa's two little girls to their farm pond to swim.

In speaking, Alice has a habit of making off-beat, eccentric observations, which Howard finds annoying, but which also lends her narration an air of tragicomedy.

Howard describes his increasing desperation that leads him to bond with Theresa, but then to sell their beloved farm to raise funds for Alice’s release on bail.

Kirkus Reviews calls A Map of the World a 'strong, compelling story', one that 'maps the best and worst of the human heart and all the mysterious, uncharted country in between.'