American Dirt

The recently published book, American Dirt, by Jeanine Cummins has created a firestorm of opinions, both positive and negative. Full disclosure. I have not yet read the book. My comments here refer to the reactions to the book and author. My main concern is the author being attacked because she is non-Mexican writing about a Mexican migrant. People rightfully can have widely different reactions to any book. Even the most popular book will receive one-star ratings from some readers. Why? Because all readers are different. The thing I object to is that opposition to this book has reached a level of threats being issued. As a writer, I can appreciate the advice of writing what you know. Equally important is to write what you don’t know. This entails research and learning. Most of my books have male protagonist, but I have also written female protagonists. As a man should I not write about women? No. In my case, I received excellent suggestions from my wife and women in my critique group about improving my female protagonist. Many women mystery writers used to use initials to disguise that they were women authors. I like reading good stories no matter the sex, race or political persuasion of the author. The beauty of fiction writing is to explore characters, situations and stories. Writers should not be chastised for tackling difficult issues and writing characters different than they are. Valid criticism can be given about inaccuracies and inconsistencies in the writing.