Hello dear Readers,
My book review of American Dirt: A Novel by Jeanine Cummins.
Title: American Dirt: A Novel
Rating: 3/5 Stars
Genre: Fiction/Hispanic American Literature
Author: Jeanine Cummins
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Publication Date: January 21, 2020
Language: English
Book Description
También de este lado hay sueños. On this side, too, there are dreams.
Lydia Quixano Pérez lives in the Mexican city of Acapulco. She runs a bookstore. She has a son, Luca, the love of her life, and a wonderful husband who is a journalist. And while there are cracks beginning to show in Acapulco because of the drug cartels, her life is, by and large, fairly comfortable.
Even though she knows they’ll never sell, Lydia stocks some of her all-time favorite books in her store. And then one day a man enters the shop to browse and comes up to the register with a few books he would like to buy―two of them her favorites. Javier is erudite. He is charming. And, unbeknownst to Lydia, he is the jefe of the newest drug cartel that has gruesomely taken over the city. When Lydia’s husband’s tell-all profile of Javier is published, none of their lives will ever be the same.
Forced to flee, Lydia and eight-year-old Luca soon find themselves miles and worlds away from their comfortable middle-class existence. Instantly transformed into migrants, Lydia and Luca ride la bestia―trains that make their way north toward the United States, which is the only place Javier’s reach doesn’t extend. As they join the countless people trying to reach el norte, Lydia soon sees that everyone is running from something. But what exactly are they running to?
American Dirt will leave readers utterly changed. It is a literary achievement filled with poignancy, drama, and humanity on every page. It is one of the most important books for our times.
Already being hailed as "a Grapes of Wrath for our times" and "a new American classic," Jeanine Cummins's American Dirt is a rare exploration into the inner hearts of people willing to sacrifice everything for a glimmer of hope.
My Thoughts
I finished reading/listening to American Dirt and wanted to share my thoughts. As a story teller, I think the author does a great job. The book as a whole has pretty much all the things I usually like in a book. Good writing, good pace, characters that you can somehow relate to.
Now, that being said, I also understand where all the rejection, anger, controversy towards it comes from. See they say writers should only write what they know. I don’t necessarily agree with that. A writer can write about any subject, but if you are going to write about something you don’t know, you better do it right. And that is when I had conflict with the book. I listened to an interview with the author, where she says she did her research, and I believe she might but i don’t think her book necessarily reflects that.
After reading other non-fiction books on the same subject, I can’t agree that American Dirt is an accurate representation of the realities of Immigrants. I am an Immigrant, however, the way I came to the US was totally different from the people on these non-fiction books I have read, and as a writer I could never feel totally confident to tell a story on the subject as if my experiences were the same as theirs. I can speak from my experience, I came here by choice not because that was my only choice. That is the issue I have with the book.
I think when it comes to sensitive topics, situations causing so much pain and suffering in real life, you can do ‘research’ and also go for the ‘fictional’ work route but that will never be an accurate representation, that will never be the same as the non fiction, or should I say, very real stories from people who are actually living the pain and the struggles of their circumstances. We as writers need to write with purpose, need to remember that behind some story lines, narratives, there are real people and they deserve better.
Again, this is my opinion, you don’t necessarily have to agree. I also won’t say American Dirt is a great or is a horrible book. I think each person should read it and form their own opinion.
Wendy
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