So every time Cummins mentions it or a spatula or lists out the names of ALL that attended, I rolled my eyes.

Just Google quinceañera images and tell me how in the world THAT would work for a backyard barbecue. From beginning to end, the content, dialog and references were way off for Mexican culture and history as I experienced it. If I could give it negative stars or a bomb, I would. But it is Arizmendi's voicing of Lydia, so full of fierce tenderness, that will stay with listeners after the story's close.' ( AudioFile Magazine)īoston Globe Best Books of the Year - 2020Īs a Mexican-American, I found this book ridiculous and insulting. The account of Lydia and Luca's travails, including terrifying rides atop Mexico's freight trains, is utterly compelling. 'Narrator Yareli Arizmendi illuminates the humanity and individuality of Latin American migrants as they flee toward refuge in the North. It is one of the most important books for our times.Īlready being hailed as 'a Grapes of Wrath for our times' and 'a new American classic', Jeanine Cummins' American Dirt is a rare exploration into the inner hearts of people willing to sacrifice everything for a glimmer of hope. It is a literary achievement filled with poignancy, drama, and humanity. But what exactly are they running to?Īmerican Dirt will leave listeners utterly changed. As they join the countless people trying to reach el norte, Lydia soon sees that everyone is running from something. Instantly transformed into migrants, Lydia and Luca ride la bestia - trains that make their way north toward the United States, which is the only place Javier’s reach doesn’t extend. When Lydia’s husband’s tell-all profile of Javier is published, none of their lives will ever be the same.įorced to flee, Lydia and eight-year-old Luca soon find themselves miles and worlds away from their comfortable middle-class existence. And, unbeknownst to Lydia, he is the jefe of the newest drug cartel that has gruesomely taken over the city. And then one day, a man enters the shop to browse and comes up to the register with a few books he would like to buy - two of them her favorites. And while there are cracks beginning to show in Acapulco because of the drug cartels, her life is, by and large, fairly comfortable.Įven though she knows they’ll never sell, Lydia stocks some of her all-time favorite books in her store. She has a son, Luca, the love of her life, and a wonderful husband who is a journalist. Lydia Quixano Pérez lives in the Mexican city of Acapulco.

It’s the great world novel! This is the international story of our times. 'This book is not simply the great American novel it’s the great novel of las Americas.

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