Why people recommend it
American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins is a gripping and intensely controversial novel that follows a mother and son fleeing their home in Mexico as migrants pursued by a violent drug cartel. On The Book Review podcast, Gilbert Cruz revisited the title to discuss the massive publishing controversy that erupted following its 2020 release. Elizabeth Harris recalled how the book generated enormous buzz at the Book Expo prior to its publication, noting that it was on everyone's reading list and inspired wild enthusiasm among early industry readers before the backlash began. Guest Ann Patchett brought up her own defense of the novel, openly acknowledging that she was one of the people who loved the book despite the heavy online criticism and intense public debates surrounding its authorship and cultural representation. Pamela Paul provided listeners with a historical primer on the novel, reflecting on the strange timeline of the book's release in 2020 and the fierce arguments it provoked throughout the literary community. The discussions highlighted how the novel managed to become both an inescapable commercial phenomenon and the center of one of the most polarizing cultural debates in contemporary publishing history.
Who recommended it
- Gilbert Cruz Discussed
- Elizabeth Harris Discussed
- Ann Patchett Discussed
- Pamela Paul Discussed
Gilbert Cruz — 1 mention
“Tina, we're going to jump ahead to 2020 when the book American Dirt was published. Oh, boy. This was this was you want to talk about controversies.”
Elizabeth Harris — 1 mention
“and I remember at the last ba the book that was on everyone's list and people were just wildly enthusing about was American dirt Janine cummings's book which became a bit controversial after it came out”
Ann Patchett — 1 mention
“I was the person who loved American dirt”
Pamela Paul — 1 mention
“let's give listeners maybe between the two of us we can we can Cobble together a few facts just a little bit of a primer on American dirt by Janine Cummings which was a novel that came out believe it or not in 2020 again going back to the the senselessness of time”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
Other mentions (1: passing, ad reads, own books)
“she is the author of American dirt which is the embattled novel of I don't know five six years ago”