Entertainment Weekly - 04.2020

CONTENTS ↓

MOVIES P. 5 0

TV P. 64

MUSIC P. 8 0

BOOKS P. 86

THE MEETING HAPPENED ON FEB. 3.

There had been reported threats

of violence on one end, death on

the other. Outside its walls, Oprah

was enduring withering criticism;

Stephen King too. Town halls

were sprouting across the coun-

try. A nationwide tour had been

canceled. For many, this wasn’t

enough. And all over the publica-

tion of a well-intentioned novel

by an unknown author.

This was not what Flatiron Books

had in mind for Jeanine Cummins’

American Dirt, its 2020 crown

jewel acquired in the seven figures

by Amy Einhorn—the famed editor

behind past blockbusters like The

Help—and all but willed to com-

mercial success. The industry buzz,

even at rival publishing houses, was

that this was the modern Grapes of

Wrath; in a blurb, King dubbed it

“extraordinary.” Flatiron, a divi-

sion of Macmillan, hailed it as a

definitive migrant novel. But the

book, about a Mexican woman and

her son fleeing perilous conditions

for a new life in the U.S., had yet to

be tested by the public. Same goes

for Cummins. Born in Spain and

raised in Maryland (her grand-

mother was Puerto Rican), she’d

previously published a few books.

This was poised to be her breakout.

Despite early praise from

authors such as Julia Alvarez and

Sandra Cisneros, Dirt soon faced

overwhelming backlash from

the Latinx reading community.

In December, Chicana author

Myriam Gurba (Mean) posted an

incendiary blog review arguing

that the book trafficked in clichés

about Mexican people that were

worthy of a President Trump rally;

she assailed its “trauma porn”

structure and lambasted Cum-

mins for writing a migration story

outside of her experience that

rang of “racism” and inaccuracy.

The piece picked up steam ahead

of Dirt’s Jan. 21 publication, and

went viral once Oprah Winfrey

picked the novel for her hot

Apple TV+ book club.

Sales have been huge—Dirt

debuted atop the New York Times

best-seller list and has already sold

well over 100,000 copies—with

BOOKS

PUBLISHING’S

RECKONING

CONTROVERSY OVER THE OPRAH-ENDORSED

AMERICAN DIRT HAS ROCKED AN

ENTIRE INDUSTRY. WE GO INSIDE THE FIGHT

TO TRANSFORM THE BOOK WORLD.

By David Canfield

EW ● COM APRIL 2020 45

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