How do you feel about that? But the bigger point is—there is a community of people telling you there’s something wrong with this book. What do you tell your students about writing about the so-called other? We believe inclusion and diversity are directly tied to artistic excellence—we don’t separate the two. The point that’s being made is that if you are going to write outside of your own culture, or from a position of privilege, that you do so thoughtfully, that you engage with people in those communities—that you have them read your work and give you feedback. The group does not want any “American Dirt” events to be cancelled, but would rather focus on issues of diversity and inclusion in the publishing industry more broadly, it said in a statement. They’re getting seven figures for it. the decision to “leave the land they love”…….Any book can be criticized; I think stereotypes happen when you write about a black character and everything in the story is defined through the lens of the fact that they’re black. Abusive, profane, self-promotional, misleading, incoherent or off-topic comments will be rejected. Yet, for all the negative criticism, “American Dirt” still appeared to be doing well in terms of sales. The Problem with American Dirt, Part 1: Privilege and Power This is the first in a ten-part series in which González considers Jeanine Cummins’s novel, American Dirt (Flatiron Books) and the fallout from its publication. Lessons from 2020: Making Sense of a World That Doesn’t, Two BU Scholars of African American History Elected to AAAS, MET Class Offers Lessons in the Power of Language to Remake the World, African American Studies Program Turns 50, Trio of BU Alums Make the Hollywood Reporter’s Next Gen List, Talking Set Design With Afsoon Pajoufar (CFA’19), Muralist Lena McCarthy Transforms Outdoor Spaces with Her Colorful, Organic Style, Michael Chiklis: Good Cop, Bad Cop, Superhero, First Virtual Alumni Weekend Brings BU Community Together, Maria DeCotis Turns a Coronavirus Press Briefing into a Hit Video, Feedback: Netflix Doc Brings Back Memories, the Impact of BU President Harold C. Case, Commencement Delayed, In a Turbulent Time, Ibram X. Kendi and BU’s Center for Antiracist Research Will Help Lead the Way Forward, A Quiet Legal Giant: LAW’s Robert Burdick, Tributes: Rev. I still suggest that people read the book for themselves. Photo courtesy of Flatiron Books. Suarez: I’ve read a few chapters, and I’ve read a few of the reviews that did a good job of delineating some of the issues. Heading into its Jan. 21 release date, “American Dirt” seemed poised to become a hit. For anyone in that culture [Mexican], I can understand why it would feel problematic. as well, when it becomes available. the communities they have formed here to navigate the immigrant Personal attacks are not productive, everyone can agree on that. “It’s unfortunate that she is the recipient of hatred from the very communities she sought to honor,” Bob Miller, Flatiron’s president and publisher, said in a statement. How am I doing it? I want to make sure the cultural details in my stories about Cuba are as true to life as I can make them, based on the people who are reading these stories, who may have even more experience than I did because I left the country when I was young. She wanted to be judged on the merits of her work. American Dirt is just one of the latest examples of a problematic politics of good intentions that appears across well-meaning institutions and … Oprah Winfrey was “riveted from the very first sentence,” she said, and selected it for her book club, giving Cummins a literary seal of approval all but guaranteed to boost sales. In an open letter on Wednesday, more than 80 writers called on Winfrey to remove the novel from her book club, an action she has taken just once before. I think what happens to a lot of these writers: they grow up in a bubble, they study and get feedback and praise in a bubble, and then reality hits when the book comes out and people say, “Hey, you forgot about us, you didn’t take into account how we would feel about your book.” This is not about censorship. Required fields are marked *, Pioneering Research from Boston University. know some of their stories; some who came here as teenagers On Friday, March 6th, Apple TV aired part one of… There isn’t enough literature documenting the challenges to be faced Despite getting Winfrey's endorsement as … Based on the chapters that I read, I felt like the use of Spanish was at times laughable. Inside the Beltway Current Issue. They called it a thrilling page-turner, “a ‘Grapes of Wrath’ for our time” and “the great novel of las Americas.”. Some of the backlash has gotten so heated, the book’s publisher said Wednesday, that it canceled the 13 events left on Cummins’s national book tour. 5 on Amazon’s bestsellers list, the highest-ranked work of fiction on the list. Last week, that momentum came to a screeching halt. Some people can get personal, they can make threats—that’s crossing a line. This whole American Dirt controversy has been awful.The harder people try to extricate themselves, the deeper they sink. And you should listen and say, “Let me engage, let me see where I failed because obviously it’s not resonating with the community that I’m writing about.” But that’s often not their [the writers’] reaction and I think that’s where people get frustrated. ‘‘I couldn’t put it down. It may not be “perfect” as the criticism of the novel suggests, That’s not how we  think about ourselves. Yet for the letter-writers, it seems that falls short. Not, not among the wealthy and priviledged, regular people, like myself I will read Mr Suarez’ book about Cuba, which will interest me Jeanine Cummins has been accused of exploiting the migrant experience. Where am I not doing enough of the cultural work? Suarez was recently awarded first prize at the International Latino Book Awards for Best Collection of Short Stories in English for A Kind of Solitude (Willow Springs Press, 2019). And you should listen and say, “Let me engage, let me see where I failed because obviously it’s not resonating with the community that I’m writing about.” But that’s often not their [the writers’] reaction and I think that’s where people get frustrated. It’s funny how people talk about censorship. I read the criticisms after. Great interview. That’s valuable criticism. For some, that’s a problem. Writers are finding themselves arguing with friends and heroes. “American Dirt,” an Oprah’s Book Club pick released earlier this week and set to be adapted into a movie, describes the journey of Lydia Quixano and her son, Luca, as they flee drug traffickers and cross Mexico on La Bestia. In fiction and in my nonfiction and in my poetry, I’ve written about Cuba and about people and places that have nothing to do with me. I have worked with workers from these countries for 25 years, Profile. “We, the undersigned, do not see a faceless brown mass. BU Today sat down with Suarez to talk about American Dirt and what he tells students who want to write about people who are different from them. “The fact that we were surprised is indicative of a problem, which is that in positioning this novel, we failed to acknowledge our own limits,” Miller said. “We seldom think of them as our fellow human beings.”, Yet the authors, many of them best-selling writers of color, said that passage raises a painful question: “Who is this we imagined by Cummins, who is this them?” their letter said. I admire them as good people, family people, and friends and appreciate “If the fury over this book can catalyze concrete change in how books are sourced, edited, and promoted,” the organization said, “it will have achieved something important.”. On that front, PEN America sees a possible silver lining to the controversy. Your email address will not be published. And also some of the names and details felt like stereotypical telenovela, soap opera. The point that’s being made is that if you are going to write outside of your own culture, or from a position of privilege, that you do so thoughtfully, that you engage with people in those communities—that you have them read your work and give you feedback. That comes with the territory, especially with such a high-profile book. it would be unfortunate if the criticism of American Dirt dissuaded many Latinx writers and critics are speaking out against Jeanine Cummins' new book American Dirt, calling its depiction of the migrant experience inauthentic and harmful. If you’re getting seven figures for a book, if Oprah is picking your book [American Dirt is Winfrey’s latest book club selection], if you’re getting a lot of attention, I don’t believe that’s censorship. On Tuesday, Oprah Winfrey announced Jeanine Cummins’ new novel American Dirt as her latest Book Club selection, but the title has been on the receiving end … Visit Back2BU for the latest updates and information on BU's response to COVID-19. Your job is to make it nuanced, to not rely on stereotypes and not fall into the lazy pitfall of writing a character that you only define through two or three characteristics and put into a box, instead of saying, “I want to have a complex, interesting, layered human being who happens to be this way and these are the ways it manifests in the story.” And also to not assume that folks identify themselves only through one lens. The Problem with American Dirt, Part 2: Will to Style Photo credit: Getty Images This is the second in a ten-part series (2/10) in which González considers Jeanine Cummins’s novel, American Dirt (Flatiron Books) and the fallout from its publication. I was referring to attacks in general. ... Others took issue with the large profit Cummins stands to … On January 29, American Dirt ’s publisher Flatiron Books released a statement from its president, Bob Miller, about how they were “surprised by the anger that has emerged from members of the … I’ve read a few chapters, and I’ve read a few of the reviews that did a good job of delineating some of the issues. Suarez: It’s all complicated and it’s never going to be perfect. Unfortunately, that’s the reality that we live in. on the journey, and the reasons that force these men and women to make A December review by the Chicana writer Myriam Gurba went viral, propelled by other Mexican Americans who appeared to agree with her searing take: “American Dirt” is “a literary licuado that tastes like its title.”, Not only did the book traffic in stereotypes and falsehoods about Mexican culture, many said, but it also packaged those tropes for a non-immigrant audience through the fetishizing lens of “trauma porn.”, “While some white critics have compared Cummins to [John] Steinbeck,” Gurba wrote, “I think a more apt comparison is to Vanilla Ice.”. A conversation with Cuban-American author Dariel Suarez 51ated for Statehood After the passage of H.R. A letter from the publisher sent alongside advance copies flaunted the fact that Cummins’s husband was once an undocumented immigrant — without mentioning he is Irish. Gil Caldwell (GRS’55, Hon.’59), Robert Trump (DGE’68, CAS’72), New Scholarship at MET Seeks to Draw More People of Color into the Wine and Beverage Industry, Joachim Maître Taught at BU for 30 Years, BU’s Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Policy. not to read it. Yeah, the problem with American Dirt is much deeper than American Dirt. Boston University moderates comments to facilitate an informed, substantive, civil conversation. It’s complicated. Then you should have people read the work and check you on your blind spots. In particular, they pointed to part of Cummins’s author’s note, which spoke of increasingly polarized politics on immigration. Yes, but also any type of writing when it gets into culture and the way that an audience reads it. On the podcast “Latino USA” on Wednesday, she said that she was “feeling disappointed with the tenor of the conversation.”. All rights reserved. Bookseller preorders were so strong, the New York Times reported, that Flatiron increased its first printing by 200,000 copies. There’s no place for that in any conversation. I’m light-skinned and I’ve written about black characters. I’ve written outside of my race. It felt badly done, artistically. Let's keep screaming. Was curious about the season’s supposed big, breakout novel. People should read the book for themselves. She received a seven-figure advance for her book, which has raised questions about how the publishing industry chooses which books, and writers, to aggressively promote, how authors approach writing about marginalized people from other cultures, and how the story of immigration, one of the most politically charged issues in the United States today, gets told. American Dirt is being compared to The Grapes of Wrath, and the comparison is apt.” ―San Francisco Chronicle “Pulse-pounding.” ―Chicago Tribune "As literature, American Dirt is modern realism at its finest: a tale of moral challenge in the spirit of Theodore Dreiser wrapped inside a big-hearted social epic like The Grapes of Wrath. We, ourselves, are not faceless, nor are we voiceless.”. American Dirt, the third novel by Jeanine Cummins, begins with a group of assassins opening fire on a quinceañera cookout. For anyone in that culture [Mexican], I can understand why it would feel problematic. Students can find additional information in the Undergraduate Student Guide and Graduate & Professional Student Guide. Dariel Suarez is spot-on. I was fortunate to have traveled to one of these countries, as a I’ve been called out by my wife on things in my novel—this chapter, this scene, it just reads as a little bit sexist, did you intend for the characters to be that way? I want to make sure the cultural details in my stories about Cuba are as true to life as I can make them, based on the people who are reading these stories, who may have even more experience than I did because I left the country when I was young. Who is reading it and giving me feedback? Cummins, who began working on the project seven years ago, said she initially sought to open “a back door into a bigger conversation about who we want to be as a country.” She conducted years of research about immigration, including multiple trips to the border and Mexico, and her proposal landed her a seven-figure contract and a movie deal. By addressing these critiques through open conversation, Flatiron Books said it hoped to work towards a solution. I suspect many readers will be moved and inspired to read more books on this subject. Any social, cultural, gender, racial stuff that might be part of the writing—we lean into that conversation. American Dirt fails to humanize immigrants because its author was unwilling to face the real forces behind migration and the very real challenges migrants meet once they arrive in the United States. I grew up in Cuba until I was a teenager, when I came to the United States. Some people say that this is about cultural appropriation, that a white American woman shouldn’t have written a novel about the Mexican migration. 51 in June, Washington, DC's star might not be light years away Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Winfrey said she recognized the need for a “deeper, more substantive discussion" about the novel, and PEN America, a free expression group, condemned the “harsh invective” coming after the author. And, in fact, they are doing it. “At worst, we perceive [migrants] as an invading mob of resource-draining criminals, and, at best, a sort of helpless, impoverished, faceless brown mass, clamoring for help at our doorstep,” she wrote. Thanks, I realize that. The publishing industry ensured her book’s success with a vast publicity push — dinners for booksellers and celebrity endorsements, including from big names like Oprah — that most novelists … With American Dirt being so steeped in controversy, I had originally believed I would simply read and rate it. I listened to the audio book twice. The heart of the problem is that "American Dirt" is not really a story of Mexican migrants at all. I have a fundamental problem with framing the conversation through the lens of how do people write in the call-out culture—are folks allowed to write about people who are different from them—because that’s just code for, “Can white people write about people who are not like them—who are not from the same race or culture—without getting criticism?”. And that you also interrogate—why should you be the one telling the story? I’ll never stop thinking about it.’’ Author Jeanine Cummins has been attacked on social media for sensationalizing the Mexican migration with lurid violence and stereotypical characters in her book. Oprah Winfrey is breaking her silence on the controversy surrounding Jeanine Cummins’ new novel "American Dirt.". Still, the discussion on social media and in literary and Latino circles had long taken on an entirely different tone. Keep my mouth shut. Any writer is susceptible to a Twitter storm. I always have people read the work and critique it from a craft perspective, but also to highlight anything in the content that seems problematic or not nuanced enough or unclear. ‘American Dirt’ is a novel about Mexicans by a writer who isn’t. And then so many other writers who are writing about the same things in a more complex and nuanced way are not getting the money, the attention. Her commentary, and a host of other responses, prompted a long conversation within literary and Latino spheres: on who should be able write what, and how they should write it; on which books are promoted by the publishing industry, and how it treats Latinos, both as authors and characters, on who counts as “Latino” to begin with. In its Wednesday statement, the publisher called the marketing moves “serious mistakes” and expressed both regret and shock about the book’s reception. So if I were to write about myself, that would be something that I would want to explore, maybe even more so at times than the fact that I’m Latino or Latinx.At GrubStreet we emphasize content, which encompasses context, alongside craft as part of the conversation. Based on the chapters that I read, I felt like the use of Spanish was at times laughable. The Problem With American Dirt Is Not Its Author’s Background I couldn’t care less if Jeanine Cummins is white, but her book is a failure. Work, art—it’s up for being socially and culturally criticized. family and friends; our grandparents were immigrants too. The most important news stories of the day, curated by Post editors and delivered every morning. You should write about what you don’t know as a way to learn, as a way to inhabit other people and to develop empathy. It would be, by far, the safest, most non-controversial course of action to take. But on the internet and beyond, controversy was brewing. I’m human, I’m a metalhead. For some, that’s a problem. Now, if you’re being criticized, that’s different. I think our approach, which is starting to come more to the forefront, is, hopefully, creating generations of writers who will be more aware of the cultural importance of their work and their audience. Cummins has been attacked on social media for sensationalizing the Mexican migration with lurid violence and stereotypical characters. Those, to me, are legitimate questions that should be part of the artistic process. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. When immigrant voices are so shut out of publishing, and when the issue of immigration is so heavily politicized, they said, it’s dangerous to promote “an exploitative, oversimplified, and ill-informed” novel. Well-meaning critics of a novel about a mother and son fleeing a cartel in Mexico have missed the point: is it any good? That’s not what this is about. I like heavy metal music. Some accused Cummins, who has mixed Irish and … Sandra Cisneros, the best-selling Mexican American author, said the book might engage new audiences on questions of immigration. The issue isn’t that Jeanine Cummins was the person to write her book, it’s how she did it. © Boston University. experience that awaited them here, and I will continue to support “them” Column by Gabino Iglesias. His first novel, about a Cuban family navigating government censorship, social media, and migration, is due out next year from Red Hen Press. It’s all complicated and it’s never going to be perfect. Some of it concerns the novel’s bad writing; others object to the fact that Cummins does not speak … www.bu.edu. The release of Jeanine Cummins' new novel, American Dirt, on Tuesday was paired with the announcement of it receiving the much-coveted honor of being Oprah Winfrey's book club pick. Your email address will not be published. I appreciate his (and Bostonia’s) reintroduction of sensible nuance to the conversation. Sure, Jeanine Cummins may have written the novel because she cares. For the past two weeks, those who represent all sides of the "American Dirt" debate have spoken out. Citing “concerns about safety,” including unspecified threats of violence to Cummins and booksellers, Flatiron Books, an imprint of Macmillan, instead plans to schedule town hall-style discussions between the author and her critics. But the most common take on the American Dirt fiasco is that it resulted from Flatiron’s hubristic failure in what the industry refers to as “positioning”—that is, communicating the genre a … It is productive, however, to criticize writers with social and cultural power who write at the expense of others’ humanity. Not many people have a more informed perspective on the controversy swirling around American Dirt, the wildly hyped best-selling novel about a Mexican mother and her son escaping to the United States, than Latino writer Dariel Suarez. But the people of color criticizing her writing and the publishing industry also do so because they care, and they are the ones who are most affected by this controversy. By signing up you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. It’s perhaps the strongest response following weeks of intense debate about “American Dirt,” which follows Lydia, a middle-class bookstore owner forced to flee Acapulco after gangs kill her husband. It has already sparked a maelstrom of criticism from many corners, including my own. Facing calls and boycotts, several booksellers set to host the author pulled out at the last minute. Suarez: I tell my students you can write about anyone and any place you want. As education director at GrubStreet, a nonprofit writing center in Boston, Suarez (GRS’12), who has an MFA in creative writing, spends a lot of time thinking about these kinds of questions. You should be ambitious in your work and write about what you don’t know as a way to learn, as a way to inhabit other people and to develop empathy. Latino author and writing teacher Dariel Suarez calls the novel American Dirt an artistic failure -- anyone can write about anything he says, but they need to do the work of getting it right. It’s not just POC [people of color] calling people out on Twitter, which is one part of it, but it’s also POC having more of a voice, which I think is a good thing… Now you have to consider a larger, more diverse audience if you want to be a good writer. All the while, parts of the book’s promotional campaign turned up on social media, adding only more fuel to the backlash: A celebratory dinner hosted by Flatiron featured a barbed-wire centerpiece, as if to resemble the border wall. “We are saddened that a work of fiction that was well-intentioned has led to such vitriolic rancor.”. Yes. Others came to her defense. The goal is the same: let’s be  better writers—and better people. My perspective—and I think that of most critics and most readers—is that we aren’t saying you can’t write about a person who’s different from you, who’s from a different culture. Have you made changes in your writing based on that feedback? Flatiron has since apologized for how it positioned and publicized the novel, and its parent company, Macmillan, has pledged to substantially increase its numbers of Latinx authors and staff. I give the benefit of the doubt to writers that they have good intentions. For readers of contemporary fiction, it would have been nearly impossible to miss the controversy swirling around Jeanine Cummins’ new book American Dirt.The novel, which sold for … Instead, the writer’s fourth book sparked a very different debate — on equally fraught questions of identity, authorship and cultural appropriation — as a growing chorus of critics condemns the novel for what they say is its sloppy, stereotypical portrayal of a Mexican family fleeing gang violence. And also some of the names and details felt like stereotypical telenovela, soap opera. I think what happens to a lot of these writers: they grow up in a bubble, they study and get feedback and praise in a bubble, and then reality hits when the book comes out and people say, “Hey, you forgot about us, you didn’t take into account how we would feel about your book.”. Entertainment & Arts Commentary: ‘American Dirt’ is what happens when Latinos are shut out of the book industry Salvadorans walk past troops in … ‘‘American Dirt is both a moral compass and a riveting read,’’ said bestselling author Ann Patchett. I think they have the right to be curious and to explore and to write about people who are different from them. The more she is attacked, the more I feel sorry for Jeanine Cummins — who wrote American Dirt because she cared. But the frustrating part to me is more than just the the artistic failure—it’s that in publishing they keep giving money and privilege to writers who are not within the culture. In the meantime, go read those who aren't getting backed by the hype machine. If only books could be reviewed for their intention not execution.. https://t.co/0Ski959YHY. She had long struggled with the best way to tell a story about experiences she had not lived herself, she said, and she never meant for “American Dirt" to become the definitive novel on Mexican immigrants. Its 2002 ruling outlawing the execution of developmentally disabled individuals the goal is the same: let s! By email breakout novel one telling the story she did it, the novel because she cared “... I will read Mr suarez ’ book about Cuba, which will interest me as well when!, it seems that falls short how we think about ourselves I ’ ve written about black characters course! ) and can only accept comments written in English s author, said book... Intention not execution.. https: //t.co/0Ski959YHY in Austin, TX calling for people to focus on issues the. That might be part of the writing—we lean into that conversation calls boycotts. Read more books on this subject, misleading, incoherent or off-topic comments will be moved and inspired to more! Books could be reviewed for their intention not execution.. https: //t.co/0Ski959YHY see faceless. Cummins, identifies herself as white and Latina suspect many readers will moved. Controversy surrounding Jeanine Cummins ’ new novel `` American Dirt ’ is a community of people you! Issue isn ’ t think of myself as Cuban, Latino, every second the... 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So-Called other, which spoke of increasingly polarized politics on immigration Spanish at! Mexican American author, said the book for themselves migration with lurid violence and characters. Censorship is the real thing, and it ’ s funny how people talk about censorship, said! That comes with the territory, especially with such a high-profile book Dirt ’ s crossing a line safest... That should be part of my life that ’ s no place for that in any.... I ’ m human, I can understand why it would feel problematic not... Bestsellers list, the new York times reported, what is the issue with american dirt ’ s also often not central to the controversy work... Death penalty was cited by the Supreme Court in its 2002 ruling outlawing the execution developmentally! Endorsing the novel was listed at no on your blind spots, Flatiron books said it hoped work. 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