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American Dirt

Jeanine Cummins

Start date: July 1, 2020

Finish date: September 30, 2020

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What Members Thought

Jan 27, 2020 Lori rated it it was amazing

While some critics argue that Jeanine Cummins was not the right person to tell the story of migrating to the US from Mexico because she is not Mexican, so it is not her story to tell, I ask, are not all stories either about leaving home or returning home, as novelist and poet Sherman Alexie claims? Do stories belong only to certain groups of people? Do we not all bleed red and pee yellow?

In American Dirt, Cummins tells the migrant story in a way that elicits empathy and shock and horror in the ...more

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May 20, 2020 John DeSimone rated it liked it

Shelves: suspense

I finally got around to reading American Dirt. Authors can only dream in their most optimistic moments of getting the accolades this book has received. Stephen King. John Grisham. Oprah. They all blurbed the front cover with glowing compliments. With such words of blessing from that creative triumvirate, I had to read it. But I also have to admit, what intrigued was that a critic labeled it "the next Grapes of Wrath."

The book was hailed as a new take on the immigrant story, a story that could us ...more

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Apr 28, 2022 Vidhya rated it liked it

I understand all the controversies regarding this book and I acknowledge it. It was a book to read once. Purely from a plot point of view, I think the book could have been shorter. There was just so much information and story that I skimmed over as it was not necessary for the pacing of the book.
Very deep and intense - this book needs a lot of patience too!

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Jan 10, 2021 Miriam Murcutt rated it it was ok

I found this book a disappointing read. This story of migrants fleeing from the violence of Mexican cartels to seek refuge in the United States is one which, sadly, we’ve heard many times before. So, aside from Lydia’s relationship with the unlikely sensitive, yet murderous, cartel boss, Javier - which functioned to drive the plot - this story is not a new one. And the characters in Cummins’ book didn’t lift a familiar tragedy to any new heights or insights. Although Lydia’s flight from Acapulco ...more

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