American Dirt: Chapter Sampler by Jeanine Cummins

American Dirt: Chapter Sampler Reviews

• 
  Linda Brownlee

  When critics write that the author does not have street cred to write a migra book, they are somewhat misinformed. Her grandmother, her husband, and her research are permission enough to write a good book about the middle class mother, Lydia, who fights for the life of her son. Good and merciful Mexicans along the way feed and shelter the migrant groups. Empathy and action for the migras is what I hope the reader takes to heart.
• 
  Christine Walmsley

  This book is heart wrenching but a necessary read. I wish every US citizen would read this book to better understand their privilege.
• 
  Chandler

  This book is the best book I have read in quite some time. It’s heartbreaking, tragic, inspirational, and something that will stay with me for a very long time. I think everyone should read this book. You can’t help but think about you being in this situation and how you would react. How would others treat you? Excellent storytelling.
• 
  Akshi Shah

  My second read of this book so I can discuss with my book club and it was just as good as the first time. Highly recommend!
• 
  Jordan Biggs

  5/5 🧢
  
  One of the best books I’ve read in a long time. This books was poetic and gut wrenching with its tragedies and the resiliency of its characters. Absolutely beautiful, inspiring, and one whose words will be cemented with me for years to come.
• 
  Mary Cooney

  Spellbinding. I finished in two days. An unlikely friendship between the seemingly mild mannered bookish Jefe of a brutal mexican drug cartel and a woman who owns a bookshop. Carnage ensues and she has to flee for her life. An educated woman becomes one of the migrants who come looking for a better life in El Norte.
  
  I know that there has been controversy about a white woman who dares to write about Latino community. I could care less what background she comes from. Her writing shines forth with truth and hummanity and shows the underbelly of the drug trade and it's impact on everyday people.
  
  
• 
  Amy Willoughby-Burle

  I know there's a lot of back lash about this book, but we just read it for our book club and it was incredibly moving. Don't let the back lash stop you from reading. Then once your heart is broken for the plight of migrants coming into America, read other books on the subject as well. There's room and need for many books on this issue. Let this be one of them too.
• 
  Ardette

  I am anxiously awaiting this book’s release date. I loved the sample.
• 
  Linda

  Bala Mudaley writes in Good Reads:American Dirt
  By Jeanine Cummins
  I could not quite work out which screamed the loudest, the media-hyped adverse commentary on American Dirt or the superlative promotional accolades plastered in the front and back of the book.
  The opening chapter immediately drew me in with it subtle and deliberate unfolding of the story. My appetite was whetted. This was just the kind of stuff I liked – original story told in the tradition of great creative non-fiction.
  But my disappointment emerged within the next few chapters. American Dirt turned out to be no more than a great yarn, a fast-paced, page turning thriller. A collection of horrendous true events faced by Mexican and other Latin-American refugees on their perilous journey, escaping crime and poverty and seeking asylum in USA as so-called illegals. Cummins has cleverly strung together these events into nail-biting escapes and high emotional drama. Many would find it a great read with more than enough tension and threat. Indeed, a commercial best seller. But no way great literature.
  I concede, however, that there are patch of writing across the 462 pages that appealed to me either because of their lyrical quality or as evidence of the Cummins’s insight into what it means to be a refugee on the run across dangerous terrain.
  The sky is scrubbed fresh and stark blue by the gone rain, but every trace of that water has evaporated from the earth around them. It feels like a dream, all that rainfall. This is a cycle, she thinks. Every day a fresh horror, and when it’s over, this feeling of surreal detachment. A disbelief, almost, in what they just endured. The mind is magical. Human beings are magical.
  Lydia thinks about how adaptable migrants must be. They must change their minds every day, every hour. They must be stubborn about one thing only: survival.
  
  In the Author’s Notes, Cummins shares with her readers her noble intentions in writing this novel, the time and effort she invested in researching the subject of migration, and her worries about falling short in one way or another and upsetting people. It seems to me Cummins attempted to reconcile three disparate imperatives: to produce a piece of fiction of high literary merit, to ensure the book she wrote was an outstanding commercial success – making heaps of money for herself, her agent and publishers, and, more importantly, she hoped for her book to remain true to her primary stated goal, namely, to highlight the ghastly plight of Latin American refugees seeking sanctuary in the USA and the systematic violation of their human rights. My assessment is that the commercial imperative won hands down. (less)
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• 
  Beverley Roblin

  Before I read this book I had heard rave reviews. I did read one that didn’t rate it called it “ Trauma porn” and unauthentic in every detail. Interesting! I have to say from the moment I started “ American Dirt” I found it riveting. I particularly enjoyed the first part which was well paced, engaging and just gripping. It is an easy and exciting read and I did enjoy it very much. However, I felt as the book progressed it became “ sensational”, trite and a little bit predictable. You could make an educated guess who was not going to make it. Also the relationship between Javier & Lydia which is at the heart of the novel just literally evaporates!! I know none of us can anticipate what we would do in such extreme circumstance but somehow Lydia’s transformation from middle-class bookseller to a migrant jumping on trains and trekking through the desert in a mere 15 days( not forgetting the numerous dangerous encounters she has along the way) Did somewhat stretch the imagination! Having said all that it did throw a light the horrendous circumstances Migrants encounter although I doubt the reality is as “ rosy” as Lydia’s journey. Would I recommend it? Definitely, it’s a “ good read” but perhaps one needs to read some real life stories to taste the horrors of migrants and their plight
• 
  Kirsten

  I actually read the entire book- not just the sampler but couldn’t find it as a stand alone book. I saw that some reviewers gave it negative remarks because it depicted Mexican Drug lords as brutal people. The author was bashed for not having been from Mexico or traveled to Mexico. It is a novel. A piece of fiction. At no time does she claim this book is based on facts other than using real Mexico cities and the names of 2 infamous drug lords as a point of reference. Yes the book starts out with a horrific murder and includes rape and murder (not with graphic depictions but rather provides the reader with enough information to form one’s own picture). It does describe the love the main character had for her son and strangers that became family in her quest to find a safer place for her family to live.