One of the year's most anticipated and debated novels is Oprah Winfrey's new book club pick.
News headlines today: Jan. 21, 2020NEW YORK -- Jeanine Cummins' “American Dirt,” one of the year's most anticipated and debated novels, is Oprah Winfrey's new pick for her book club.
“And I remember thinking, ‘Yeah right, you better know what you're talking about because I have a first edition of ‘Grapes of Wrath,' and it sits on a pedestal in my living room,'" Winfrey said. “Now I wouldn’t say this is ‘Grapes of Wrath,’ but I would say that ... I have been a news reporter, watched the news, seen the stories every day, seen the children at the border and my heart is wrenched by that.
Cummins, who has ancestors from Ireland and Puerto Rico, said she spent extensive time in Mexico and met with many people on both sides of the border. Her novel has raised questions, however, over whether she, a non-Mexican and non-migrant, was suited for the narrative. Cummins herself has expressed doubts, writing in the book's afterword: “I wished someone slightly browner than me would write it." She then added that perhaps she could serve as a bridge.
“I could never speak to the accuracy of the book’s representation of Mexican culture or the plights of migrants; I have never been Mexican or a migrant,” wrote Groff, who nonetheless “kept turning the pages.” As a turning point in deciding to write the book, Cummins, 45, cited a conversation with Norma Iglesias-Prieto, a professor of Chicano and Chicana studies at San Diego State University. According to Cummins, Iglesias-Prieto told her, “We need as many voices as we can get.”
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