Everything Wrong with American Dirt

In December of 2019 Author Jeanine Cummins released her 5^th novel, American Dirt, to much acclaim. It was so well received that it was made an Oprah Book of the Month Club member. But from the beginning the novel had . . . detractors. There were stunning reviews from Latino reporters and authors. There was so much outrage around the novel that Oprah herself had to comment upon the book and tell her audience that this book club would be a special one where they discussed the issues the book brought up, and not necessarily the book itself.

Hell, Cummins book tour had to be cancelled because there were death threats.

So, what’s wrong with the book?

Many reviewers see the novel as a caricature of the Mexican immigrant experience. So much so that many Mexican-American reviewers felt personally insulted by the novel. I have a different take. There are real, structural problems in traditional publishing. American Dirt is the canary in the coal mine, as far as I see it. (Miners used to keep canaries in coal mines because they were sensitive to carbon monoxide. If the canary died it was time to get out.) Essentially, the publisher dropped the ball.

Diversity in fiction has been an issue for several years now. But this has nothing to do with diversity, as it is traditionally discussed. This is being tone deaf. What do I mean?

• Jeanine Cummins took a vacation down to Mexico once and used that as research.

• Jeanine Cummins never claimed to be a Latina until the book came out and she announced that her grandmother was Puerto Rican.

• Her publisher tried to increase her right to tell this story by stating that she was married to an undocumented immigrant. It was later revealed that Cummins husband was . . . Irish.

In describing the controversy, Cummins said:

“As a non-immigrant and non-Mexican, I had no business writing a book set almost entirely in Mexico, set entirely among immigrants,” she wrote. “I wished someone slightly browner than me would write it.”

I want to be clear. I sincerely believe that anybody can write any story. I honestly believe that you don’t have to be Chinese to understand Chinese culture, or Chinese-American culture. I have taught a class on how to write African-American characters for several years now and I wouldn’t do it if I thought only black people could do justice to black characters. But this isn’t about race. This isn’t about prejudice.

Flatirons Books (An imprint of MacMillan) green lit this book and gave Cummins a seven-figure advance. But Flatirons Books has its headquarters in New York City. I hope it’s not too controversial to say that when you live in New York, you live in a bubble. What do I mean? Any publisher west of the Mississippi River would have done the following:

• Fact-checked her story with a geographer. (Is the terrain she’s describing accurate? What about the weather? We’re talking about a 7 figure advance, let’s at least get the ground right.)
• Spoken with local residence of all backgrounds on both sides of the border to understand the culture.  
• Would have hired sensitivity readers.
• Would have reached out to a Chicano Studies or Mexican History professors at several universities to give the book some credentials.
• Would have partnered with a large organization that would have given heft and weight to the book’s noble theme of humanizing the refugees coming across the border. An organization like The Hispanic Heritage Foundation, Unidos US, or La MEChA.

They did none of this. Why? My guess is that it has to do with that New York bubble I mentioned above. The publisher found a quality author with a known track record and a following who wanted to write a novel on a hot button issue that they felt would guarantee sells. But when you live in the center of the biggest media distribution industry in the world, you tend to think everything is about you. In other words, they didn’t respect the topic or their potential readers. Oh, the coastal elites will buy this book. The middle-aged suburban housewife from the Midwest and upper south will buy this book. But people who live in the West? In the Southwest? Will people of Latin descent buy this book?

The love of money is the root of all evil (I Timothy 6:10)

Like I said, this isn’t racism or prejudice. This is being tone deaf. A publisher who lived anywhere in the west would have come up with at least half of the things I’ve listed. Is it any wonder why the Big Six are the Big Five now? This is a big, beautiful country full of hungry book readers, and MacMillian thinks that the only people who count are the people who will buy their book.

What could Jeanine Cummins have done to lessen the controversy?

Bear with me, for a moment while I make a convoluted point.

My friends and I love movies based on comic books. We’ve all come to the conclusion that the ones that do well respect the source material. Ms. Cummins clearly did not do enough research. You can’t spend a week in Mexico and understand Mexican culture. Or go to Little Tokyo regularly and understand Japanese-American culture.

But you know what? I am sympathetic. We interact with Mexican and Latin culture every day in the United States. I don’t believe there are many cities left in the US where you can’t hear Spanish spoken somewhere. But please don’t confuse proximity with understanding. Please don’t see any culture as a monolith.

So, what have we learned?

Do your research. Go the extra mile. Use sensitivity readers and don’t substitute casual knowledge with a culture or group of people with actual research. Finally, when attacked, listen, learn and do better next time.