There has been a lot of controversy about this book. It is categorized as literary fiction. What strikes you about the writing in American Dirt and how does it contribute to the story being told? Think about this in relation to the following: While several reviews say it is the “Grapes of Wrath”of our times, others argue that it is a stereotype of the immigrant story. Julia Alvarez, a Latina writer herself said, “Jeanine Cummins makes us all live and breathe the refugee story.” Is this true?”But an increasing vocal contingent of Mexican and Mexican-American writers has panned the novel as “trauma porn” pointing out myriad inconsistencies and errors in Cummins’ descriptions of Mexico that is largely American, Non-Spanish speaking industry of agents, editors and publicists seemed to not have been able to notice.”
You can use The New York Times review to analyze this debate about the book. But I want to see your ideas and specific references to the text of the novel itself. Create your own thesis and argue it using examples from the text (direct and indirect quotes) and any other sources you wish to bring into your discussion. Don’t forget a Works Cited page. 2-3 double spaced pages. Submit ONLY a PDF or DOCX file.
Here is the link to The New York Times review:
