Writing, race and representation: What the debate about Jeanine Cummins' American Dirt tells us about appropriation

American Dirt seemed poised to become one of this year’s biggest, buzziest books. The author, Jeanine Cummins, has said she hoped the novel would drive discussions about immigration policy and open “a back door into a bigger conversation about who we want to be as a country.” Since then, American Dirt has certainly ignited a vigorous conversation — but hardly the one the author and publisher intended. “If out of 100 titles that were published by mainstream publishers, 25 were by Latinos,” he continued, “no one would be complaining.” Since the Oprah’s Book Club announcement, some Latino and other writers of color on Twitter have urged Winfrey to reconsider and called on readers not to support the book. “We ultimately go back to the novel’s intention,” the statement read, and the way it “gives us empathy with our fellow human beings who are struggling to find safety in our unsafe world.” Winfrey issued her own statement, saying she had found the book “riveting” but had been listening to members of the Latino community and would “bring people together” on her show on Apple TV Plus. The store’s book buyer, Adrian Newell, said there had been no backlash from customers and added that the “vitriol” in some of the critiques made her uncomfortable.