Politics and controversy aside, let me tell you about this amazing book I just read. It is one of those rare gems that you think of all day, looking forward to when you have time to return to its pages.

At the bones of this novel is a universal classic tale that can cross any genre and appeal to any reader: In a world where survival is extremely difficult, you would do anything to save your loved one. Along the treacherous journey, you must take the measure quickly of people you meet to predict if they are friend or foe. Will they survive? You’ll want to read it for yourself to see.

It also explores the ripple effects life choices/karma have on those closest to you. It’s in parts a tragic love story encased within timely talking points that will inspire important conversations, a perfect choice for a book club.

I understand that many people feel the author was out of place in writing about an experience she had not lived herself. She expresses her own doubts in the author’s note at the end, which she ends with the thought, If you’re a person who has the capacity to be a bridge, why not be a bridge?

But if we limit authors to only those experiences they have personally held, while we would theoretically gain authenticity, we would lose entire genres because most authors have never been to space, battled a fantastical creature, or lived during a past historical period. It is not uncommon for skilled authors to effectively write about a time, place or event that they have not personally experienced. It would be a travesty to cage authors into the unimaginative realm of their personal reality.

This novel had me, someone far removed from the character’s situation, not only thinking more deeply about the plight of migrants daily but also considering immigration from a drastically different light than what is presented in the news and general media. This is the magic that powerful books are capable of - they are catalysts for change.

The truth about American Dirt, the controversial recent selection for Oprah’s book club, is that it is a worthwhile, engaging and thought-provoking novel that is easily recommended to other readers. Is diversity important in literary publishing? Of course. Should there specifically be more Latino authors getting published? Yes, please! Is our country in need of immigration reform? Certainly. Does any of this take away from the excellence of this novel? No, it does not. As an esteemed scholar, Norma Prieto, told the author, “We need as many voices as we can get, telling this story.”
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Favorite Quote: The worst will either happen or not happen, and there’s no worry that will make a difference in either direction.

First Sentence: One of the very first bullets comes in through the open window above the toilet where Luca is standing.

Excerpt:Some share their stories carefully, selectively, finding a faithful ear and then chanting their words like prayers. Other migrants are like blown-open grenades, telling their anguish compulsively to everyone they meet, dispensing their pain like shrapnel so they might one day wake to find their burdens have grown lighter. Luca wonders what it would feel like to blow up like that. But for now, he remains undetonated, his horrors sealed tightly inside, his pin fixed snugly in place.

Clearly from the rating, this one did not provide an impressive or favorable reading experience for me. With a fairly high average rating, I am in the minority with that vote. At 315 pages, I feel this could have easily been condensed into 1-2 pages. The memoir basically could be summed up like this:

My mother died. I am mad at her for this. I hate her for this. I miss her. I love my mother. I have horrible coping skills, those skills primarily being heroin, alcohol, and gratuitous sex with strangers. This caused my divorce. I love my ex-husband. He was wonderful. My mother died. I hate her. I love her. My backpack is heavy. I was unprepared for this trip. My feet hurt. I frequently remove my entire blackened toenail by hand and flick them away. I stink. My mother died. I hate her. I love her. Pretty creek! More gratuitous sex. My ex-husband is so wonderful. My mother died. I am mad at her. I miss her. My backpack is heavy. My feet hurt. I stink. Ahh, mountains. Just flicked another toenail. My backpack is heavy. I was unprepared for this trip. My mother died. Ex-husband is wonderful. Heavy. Hurt. Stink. I ate my mother's cremated remains. Yes, you read that correctly. Crater Lake is so beautiful. Feet hurt. Was not prepared for this trip. Ex-husband is wonderful. Single women hiking have to watch out for bad men. My mother died. Hate and love her. Met more guys, have crushes on them all. Pack is heavy. Feet hurt. I stink. You meet weird people on the trails. I am divorced. My ex-husband is wonderful. Mt. Hood is so pretty. Feet hurt. Flicked another toenail off - only have six intact left! Yay, I made it to my planned end on the trail. This was wild.

Sigh, I simply do not understand the hype around this book. For me, it was insignificant and forgettable. The writing is painfully repetitive, simplistic (and not in the amazing, beautiful way) and at times it seems the writer tries to be poetic but ends up leaving the reader scratching their head trying to translate. Allow me to share some examples:

“He kissed me hard and I kissed him back harder, like it was the end of an era that had lasted all of my life.”

"In my perception, the world wasn't a graph or formula or an equation. It was a story."

"I was a pebble. I was a leaf. I was the jagged branch of a tree. I was nothing to them and they were everything to me."

"I walked through the spider webs, feeling them like magic on my face, pulling them out of my hair."


P.S. Eating a loved one's remains will not ensure that they will remain with you forever. On average, the consumed parts will remain with you for approximately 53 hours before being eliminated from the body via the last stop on the digestive track, but could be as quickly as 33 hours. I recommend a nice, covered container to keep a portion of your loved one's remains as a more effective way of ensuring they will remain with you forever.

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Favorite Quote: N/A.

First Sentence: The trees were tall, but I was taller, standing above them on a steep mountain slope in northern California.