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American Dirt is a 2020 novel by American author Jeanine Cummins, describing the ordeal of a Mexican woman who had to leave behind her life and escape as an immigrant to US with her son.

Plot

The protagonist in American Dirt, Lydia Quixano Perez lived a comfortable life in Acapulco, Mexico with her journalist husband, Sebastian, and her son, Luca. Lydia ran a bookstore and one day befriended a charming customer, Javier, who appeared to have similar interest in the books she liked. Little did Lydia know that Javier was a kingpin of a drug cartel. When Sebastian published a profile exposing Javier's crime, Javier ordered the slaughtering of Sebastian and his family. Forced to escape Mexico, Lydia and Luca became one of the countless immigrants from Latin America who had to embark on a dangerous journey to the United States.

Distinctions and recognition

On January 20, 2020: Oprah Winfrey announced that she had selected American Dirt for her book club.

Reception

Oprah Winfrey, in selecting American Dirt for her book club, said, "Jeanine Cummins accomplished a remarkable feat, literally putting us in the shoes of migrants and making us feel their anguish and desperation to live in freedom."

Mexican-American writer Sandra Cisneros called the book masterful, "the book is not simply the great American novel; it's the great novel of las Americas. It's the great world novel. This is the international story of our time!"

The Washington Post critic Polly Rosenwaike wrote, "American Dirt offers both a vital chronicle of contemporary Latin American migrant experience and a profoundly moving reading experience. If only we could press it into the hands of people in power. If only a story this generously told would inspire them to expand the borders of their vision of Americas."

NPR's Maureen Corrigan wrote, "Cummins' novel brings to life the ordeal of individual migrants, who risk everything to try to cross into the U.S. .... Propulsive and affecting, American Dirt compels readers to recognize that we're all but a step or two away from 'join the procession.' "

Controversy

Not only did American Dirt touch on a controversial topic about Latin American immigrants crossing the border illegally into the United States, Cummins has been criticized by some for inaccurately portraying Mexicans. Myriam Gurba wrote in Tropics of Meta, "That Lydia is so shocked by her country's day to day realities ... gives the impression that Lydia may not be ... a credible Mexican. In fact, she perceives her own country through the eyes of pearl-clutching American tourist." In Medium, writer David Bowles called the book "harmful, appropriating, inaccurate, trauma-porn melodrama."

USA Today's Barbara VanDenburgh called the book "problematic". She wrote, "American Dirt positions itself as the great sociopolitical novel of our era. Instead, it reeks of opportunism, substituting characters arc for mere trauma ... These character, story and style missteps would be problematic no matter the source. But it matters in this case that the source is a European-born woman in the U.S. without ties to Mexican migrant experience."

American Dirt also stirred up controversy when New York Times published two conflicting reviews on the book by different critics. On January 17, 2020, Parul Sehgal wrote on the daily Books of the Times section, "this peculiar book flounders and fails." Two days later, Times Book Review published a conflicting review from Lauren Groff that said the book "was written with good intentions, and like all deeply felt books, it calls its imagined ghost into the reader's real flesh." Still, Groff questions herself, writing “I was sure I was the wrong person to review this book”. On Twitter, later the same day of publication, Groff called her review "deeply inadequate" and called the situation a nightmare.

Film adaptation

The novel has been optioned for a film adaptation by Charles Leavitt and Imperative Entertainment.

References

1. Haber, Leigh (2020-01-21). "Oprah Announces New Oprah's Book Club Pick: American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins". Oprah Magazine. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
2. "Oprah Winfrey wades into 'American Dirt' controversy with her book club pick". Los Angeles Times. 2020-01-21. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
3. January 21, CBS News; 2020; Am, 8:46. "Oprah reveals "American Dirt" by Jeanine Cummins as new book club pick". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2020-01-22. {{cite web}}: |last2= has numeric name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
4. "Oprah's Book Club: The complete list". www.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2020-01-23.
5. "American Dirt (Oprah's Book Club) | Jeanine Cummins | Macmillan". US Macmillan. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
6. "To Stand Still Is To Die: A New Novel Follows Migrants To 'American Dirt'". NPR.org. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
7. ^ Hampton, Rachelle (2020-01-21). "Why Everyone's Angry About American Dirt". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
8. Amatulli, Jenna (2020-01-21). "This Is The Controversy Behind Oprah's Latest Book Club Pick, 'American Dirt'". HuffPost. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
9. VanDenburgh, Barbara. "Jeanine Cummins' migrant book 'American Dirt' is problematic; author's note makes it worse". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
10. ^ https://www.vulture.com/2020/01/american-dirt-book-controversy-explained.html
11. ^ Grady, Constance (2020-01-22). "The controversy over the new immigration novel American Dirt, explained". Vox. Retrieved 2020-01-24.
12. Shephard, Alex (2020-01-22). "How Not to Write a Book Review". The New Republic. ISSN 0028-6583. Retrieved 2020-01-24.

External links

• 2020 American novels
• Novels about immigration to the United States