‘American Dirt’ author’s book tour canceled due to ‘specific threats’ to booksellers
The “American Dirt” book tour just got buried.
Publisher Flatiron Books announced Wednesday that it will cancel the rest of the tour of author Jeanine Cummins, whose controversial novel about a mother and son fleeing a Mexican cartel provoked questions of cultural appropriation.
Cummins, also author of two other novels and the memoir, was scheduled to appear at Books & Books in Coral Gables on Feb. 10. The book inspired outrage among writers, bloggers and columnists who criticized the book as clumsy and exploitative and not representative of Mexico or Mexicans. The novel was also initially praised by such authors as Sandra Cisneros, Stephen King, Julia Alvarez and Don Winslow, who wrote a series of books about cartels on the border.
When asked about the cancellation, Books & Books owner Mitchell Kaplan said simply, “I’m sorry that it has come to this.”
In a statement, Bob Miller, publisher and president of Flatiron Books, cited safety concerns as the reason to cancel the tour.
“Based on specific threats to booksellers and the author, we believe there exists real peril to their safety,” the publishing house said in a statement.
The statement also acknowledged surprised by the reaction of the “Latinx and publishing committees.”
“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. The discussion around this book has exposed deep inadequacies in how we at Flatiron Books address issues of representation, both in the books we publish and in the teams that work on them. We are committed to finding new ways to address these issues and the specific publishing choices underlying this publication, and feel an obligation to our colleagues, readers, and authors alike. On a more specific scale we made serious mistakes in the way we rolled out this book. We should never have claimed that it was a novel that defined the migrant experience; we should not have said that Jeanine’s husband was an undocumented immigrant while not specifying that he was from Ireland; we should not have had a centerpiece at our bookseller dinner last May that replicated the book jacket so tastelessly. We can now see how insensitive those and other decisions were, and we regret them. “
“Simply put, we wish to listen, learn and do better. But that also must include a two-way dialogue characterized by respect. Jeanine Cummins spent five years of her life writing this book with the intent to shine a spotlight on tragedies facing immigrants. For that reason, it’s unfortunate that she is the recipient of hatred from the very communities she sought to honor. . . . . We are saddened that a work of fiction that was well-intentioned has led to such vitriolic rancor. While there are valid criticisms around our promotion of this book that is no excuse for the fact that in some cases there have been threats of physical violence. We join with those in the Latinx community and others who have spoken out against such violence.”
Oprah Winfrey also chose “American Dirt” for her book club, calling it a “heart-wrenching page-turner” prompting a petition by 83 writers to ask her to reconsider her choice.
Flatiron says it is organizing a series of townhall meetings where Cummins will join groups with objections to the book.
Meanwhile, it’s no. 1 on Amazon this week.
