I understand how Mexicans feel regarding this book but their frustration is with publishers, not Jeanine. She obviously came from a good place writing this. Harriet Beecher Stowe was a white woman who wrote about slavery. Uncle Tom’s Cabin was a book that helped end slavery. It’s about writing something that starts a discussion.
As a Latin woman I would like to say that I've loved this book. The narrative helps to develop empathy for migrants and her approach is very sensitive. She is a great writer.
@@lancejohnson127 She is profiting from acting like she is doing the community a favor. Aww how gracious of her to use racist tropes to ACT like she is doing sometime for people of color while really only profiting off plagiarized work.
The book was well written for a mass audience. It was interesting, easy to read, relatable to anyone and it put a face to an issue that we hear about on the news daily. She has the right to research and write a book about anything she wants. I don't think that it is fair to limit writers to only write about their own lived experiences or cultural backgrounds. Silencing artists is never a good idea. We are making her the scapegoat for the publishing companies. The issue is that publishing companies only give white writers opportunities and we need to hold them accountable for that and have them change their discriminatory practices. Plenty of other books have been written about this issue by latinx writers but none of them get the book and movie deals that white authors get. The solution is not to silence and shame writers for writing about experiences that aren't their own but rather to hold the publishers responsible for the books that they choose to publish.
I animate a number of book clubs a year. One of my clubs suggested American Dirt. It came from a larger list of choices, and I need to say I am glad I chose it. I don't like contemporary fiction, by and large (my reading stays in the fin-de-siecle and the Edwardian years for the most part), but this novel has much to recommend. As I researched my book club lecture, I was horrified at the interviews with the poor author. The novel is extremely well researched and the voices in the fiction are unique and well rounded. The pace kept me up at night (but I think this marks it as successful as per what the novel sets out to do), and the subject matter was riveting. Fluent in Spanish, Mexico was always on my bucket-list: it is not anymore. I was horrified by what was confirmed via my own i-net snooping. Mexico is a corrupt and dangerous country, the migrants fleeing are doing so for very real reasons. Cummins brought this to light for me and spurred my curiosity, and thus related political awareness. Her demeanor in her interviews, especially Oprah (someone I loved prior to reading her treatment of Cummins) remains problem ridden: Cummins needs to stand up for her product; she needs to emphasize her voice, her concerns and the goal of her novel. She can, if she feels, apologize to the high-maintenance complaints from Latinax--terrible ppl really. To accuse an author of misrepresentation, colonization and thus exploitation of an entire ppl via a novel project is really an issue. The Age of Rage in which we live is a far cry from the more open-mined and politically savy 1990s. A leading critic in Queer Theory, for example, was a straight white woman. I fail to see how anyone's background should affect the stories they wish to tell. Giving privilege to a non-white writer for a non-white story is not acceptable. Either the story works or it doesn't. This story works. I hope the author reads this and that my words give her courage to battle the insipid criticism by critics "of color." Thank you for educating me, Jeanine Cummins--be strong and fight back!
Arrgh. This book touched a loose wire ... hit an American (northamerican🤣) nerve. Yup. The author is not a bona fide journalist; she is a storytelling writer. Publishers are in business; the $$$ make their eyes open very wide. She feels she is LatinX being born in Spain (US Navy base?) and having a PR antecedent. Ok. Maybe. My mother is buried in Mexico ...an ex pat. I lived in and out of central Mx since 1950s. I had many storytelling published friends there. In the 70s i worked at the Quaker House in DF. Recently they host long-term a Russian mother with 2 children. I spoke with Turkish men going to Canada and 10 young Americans taking their last vacations as volunteers before binding themselves to finding work to pay their huge STUDENT LOANS. In NYC i also worked briefly with US Immigration lawyers. I have a 1967 BA in Spanish lit which i got attending many classes in which i was the only non Cuban refugee. ...some of my background.... I believe the book was very5 WELL-INTENTIONED. I follow news about "Mexico" murders, drugs and AMLO. The country was always on a rough road and now being a crazed conduit for ENTERING THE U.S. A terrible challenge. One housekeeper had told me of her nephew falling asleep under a small saguaro in the Arizona desert and being bitten by a slightly buried sidewinder. One of his fellows volunteered to stay with the body and return with it to central Mexico when immigration came to pick them up. There are neither easy answers nor good answers. This darned book simply opens the bloody wounds wider. Dammit.
@@rosalindmartin4469 you are right on, plus you have a lived experience to ground your position. Fiction is just that. When it is historical, it can raise awareness, as this novel does. I think the treatment of the author, who is mixed in background, reflects the overall anxiety and downfalls of combative woke people. Question: do we use Latino/a or Latinx or both? My friends with relational backgrounds loathe Latinx--I just want to assure, as a professor, that I use what ppl from this lived experience prefer :) Thanks!!!
@@scorpiusjones5436 I don't need your help to know my own mind. I buy what I want. I read what I want. I don't give a shit how butt hurt you are. My comment wasn't broken.
@VV25VT HHCN You know nothing about me. I am not conservative. Don't drive a muscle car. I don't believe in censorship, My family is massive and I am well loved. When I die there will be more sadness than I deserve. Sorry that you are so jealous and angry at this woman for her success. I hope you lay down all that hate and find peace.
Jealousy,.. that Panamanian reporter, is a jealous individual just like all the others, that are critical to this book that has had great success, in helping those who are against immigrants to a better understanding of the struggles of the immigrants....
The perils and hardships experienced by undocumented children and families exist in our local schools, organizations and homes. One doesn’t have to go to Mexico to see a person as “human” and in need of access, opportunity and love. The privileges and ignorance shared by the moderators are hard to hear but it’s an important conversation to have often. I am super glad Cristela Guerra is there to add a social justice framework to the discourse. I look forward to Oprah’s forum about this author’s work.
Jeanine great writing , no need to apologize you did your job as a writer of a novel, you did your research and at the end of the day IT IS A NOVEL. And appreciate writers like you who are willing to touch subjects like this. Cristal, Criticism of that kind is childish. Depicting every small un importan pice of why she should or not have done … 🤣 is ridiculous and it would had take instead of 5 years 20 to publish a novel if she had trying to please everyone in the way you are inferring with all your questions .
“Everyone praised it” she says - uh, did she look at the critiques? Reviewers were barred from submitting negative reviews about the book before it was released
Reviewers were not barred form submitting negative reviews. Gurba was asked for a submission by Ms. and they were appropriately put off. Their brand is sisterhood, not 'cut a bish'. If, in fact, you have evidence that reviewers were 'barred', please direct me to those links. Because that would be an outrage.
@@sylviavasquez9523 Oh, please, don't be so ignorant. Of course bad reviews were pushed back. Why? Because this book was anointed as the next big literary cash cow, and those related to Flatiron, including Oprah and Sandra Cisneros, were told to promote it. Negative feedback was purposely ignored. That's how the business works.
IT IS RIDICULOUS THAT THE MODERATOR HAD TO CALL AN AUTHENTIC HISPANIC TO ASK QUESTIONS...... AS IF NOW WHITE PEOPLE CAN'T EVEN FUCKING ASK A QUESTION?????? THIS IS MADNESS!!!
She handled this as perfectly as possible given the misplaced hatred that has marred her career and will define her in the public eye. The injustices in publishing are not the fault of individual authors, especially those that are doing the work of galvanizing change in public sentiment and shedding light on the humanity of situations that are erased by sensational headlines. The literary community has so much respect for you and we look forward to being able to look back on moments of grace. You are exemplifying all the values we preach.
I read fiction all the time and love historical fiction. I will then go and check facts - what really happened and what was poetic license? I believe thoughtful people will realize that it is not meant to be truth - that is the definition of fiction! Has every spy novel been written by spies? James Michener was not a native of Hawaii but wrote a book about it. Janet Evanovich has most likely not been a bond enforcement agent! Agatha Christie was not a Belgian detective! But they all wrote amazing books that entertain, enlighten and sometimes challenge us. This book has made me want to learn more about the experience of immigrants, the influence of cartels (Acapulco was a premier destination in my youth - is it really that bad now?) Unlike the previous administration who presented fiction as fact, Ms. Cummins has written a novel, a work of fiction and has presented it as such.
The masks come off at 1:02:07 for a moment. Cummins says "Do I have to give you guys receipts" and Guerra responds "Maybe. Yeah, I'm kinda asking for receipts."
There actually appears to be plenty of jealousy driving the "outrage" due to the hefty advance Jeanine Cummins received and the glowing reviews for the book......this ongoing spectacle amplifies the worst aspects of the raucous middle-school lunchroom that is social media.
@@hardnewstakenharder no it's not racism, it's call TRUTH , we all have to face TRUTH....., many Hispanics (Latinos) ... need to take a long hard look in the mirror and see their inner self.....we all have flaws... Whites, Blacks, Latinos, Asian, we all have to face reality about our inner self. Yo soy de origen Hispanic. Y me siento orgullosa de serlo.
The book is written in English for English speakers. How the heck is that cultural appropriation? If Cummins had dressed up in a sombrero and attempted to sing Canta no Llores and then do a Speedy Gonzales imitation then that would be cultural appropriation. Cummins lent her writing skills to a migrant story and shed light on the struggles of migrants everywhere. Thank you.
Well, she is being dragged through the mud. But I agree that she should make no apologies. Be a force to deal with. My Mexican parents taught me to never back down in the face of bullies.
@@sylviavasquez9523 If Cummins cannot take the criticism, then she should have written a different book. She knew what was coming and had her lame excuses all lined up.
She should have written about the half-Latina lady who lives near the border and has an interest in these issues. That point of view she could have easily written from and it would have been a better story. She could have grappled with her own identity. That would have been a better novel. She would be writing what she knows and understands.
I am part of a number of book clubs and a few have chosen this novel. The problematic approaches by Oprah and LatinaX reflect a serious disconnect with community and writing. James Baldwin wrote white characters; Patricia Highsmith wrote male characters; E.M. Forster wrote straight characters...the list is enormous. This post millennial approach to not being able to say anything really about a race or sex or sexuality that isn't your own is a HUGE problem and hinders growth. I feel badly for the writer and I hope she stands her ground, or has started to. Hopefully the problems raised by the controversy surrounding her whiteness, offensive really, will die down and not hinder future book projects for Cummins.
I will say, the problem I saw was with the publisher, calling this book the seminal, singular piece of fiction about immigration. I think if they had let it be one of many, as it should be, it would’ve done well.
As a reader I thought it was great story telling I felt I was watching a film- As a black woman I wonder how I would feel if she had written it it about someone from the Caribbean. Did anyone criticize Isabel Allende for Island Beneath the Sea?
Cummins spoke to zero migrants and she did little research, like watching documentaries and reading books by Mexican authors (which she then plagiarized). The reporter clearly asks her about the stories she heard from MIGRANTS, and Cummins evades the question and talks about the stories she heard from a worker helping migrants. Instead of asking the worker about how those migrants cope with the trauma of migrating, she asks the worker how she copes with the trauma of dealing with the migrants... Are you kidding me? The book is about the white savior's views. It is not about the migrants. She does not care about that angle. This book cannot be respected as a book on the migrant experience. It is just white fluff.
The BEST review I've seen by a Latinx person who read the book. Enjoy! ruclips.net/video/l2JxFtDUddY/видео.html [Edit: and YES! Cristela Guerra at 1:00:30. THANK YOU!]
Loved this book. A page turner. Heavy duty, well documented, emotional. One great contribution to the lit on migrants. Sequel? I want to know what happens with Luca and Lydia, Rebecca & Soledad. Does Javier show up?
I think she handled this pretty well. Having read the book I understand its criticism and agree certainly that its authenticity is compromised. However, it is a work of fiction?
Well. She likes to hear herself talk. And she feels very sorry for herself. I do feel for her because when you're white and you try to reach outside your bubble of privilege, you are often met with hatred, even if your intentions are good. I get why she wanted to justify her writing of the book and explain why she feels she'd done her due diligence, but I think she could have feigned a little more humility for this interview to avoid this whole "I'm the victim" vibe. I wonder why she didn't collaborate with a Mexican migrant writer for this project - even if it had just been for optics and to give her work greater credibility. It's not like migrant authors are in short supply. Cultural appropriation largely implies you are profiting from a suppressed people's voice/story/culture. I suggest that she donate all the profits from her book to a relevant organization helping families at the border or giving scholarships to aspiring Chicano creative writing majors. I'm sure she can afford it.
Kimberly Cronen you’re the one out of touch my friend. Collaborate with a Mexican migrant worker? Like what she gonna do put out an add on Craigslist asking an undocumented immigrant to “share their story” with her. Lol wow. Don’t burst your bubble now.
Kimberly Cronen that’s not how book advances working financially and its insane to suggest someone donate their hard earned paychecks because you and a small community have the *opinion* that they were the wrong skin color.
@@gv5806 I honestly have no idea how book deals work. Could you explain it? I don't think it's such a crazy idea. She says she wrote the book to help very vulnerable migrant people. So far it just seems to have offended them, which I'm sure is very confusing, hurtful, and disappointing for her. She could still redeem her hard work by publicly giving back the proceeds to the marginalized community whose story she is profiting from.
@@gv5806 By the way, I'm not judging her. So far I haven't heard any specific criticism that seems substantive. Plus, I haven't read the book. (The thing about not using the Mexican version of the boogeyman seems like a silly criticism, when it appears she was trying to make a cultural comparison that her readers could identify with.) But I do know in a small way how it can be painful to have someone misrepresent your story. I just wonder why she didn't cover her bases by co-authoring or basing her story on someone real, similar to how Sonia Nazario did with Enrique's Journey. She wasn't clueless about how controversial this could have been, yet she still went about it in a way that had the potential to be criticized. I just think it's a shame because she invested so much of her life in this endeavor and it seems like this could have been avoided. Maybe not, though. There are always haters out there. Like I said, I haven't read the book.
@@sharamusica Sonia Nazario did it to tell one young man's story. I'm in a northern state, and I've had dozens of migrants come to me eager to tell their stories - apropos of nothing, really. I'm not a social worker or a writer or a lawyer or a minister or anyone important. Just a regular person who is low-key friendly and likes to listen. People enjoy sharing their stories with a person who will just listen without judgment. It wouldn't have been hard. She says she was down at the border and has been interviewing people for five years. She must have heard dozens and dozens of stories.
Cartels exist because uhm... some, (way too many) individuals grew up in a dysfunctional family and are crack heads. Somewhere in the American Continent... So, thank you for creating a market place (Mexico) that has created and paved a grenade field like for young Mexicans to grow in such difficult environment 😞
As a proud Mexican-American with undocumented family members I'd have to pass on this novel due to the author being a white European born American raised non latino..
@@kimberlycronen3998 she only latino roots she has is a Puerto Rican abuela that does not qualify you as latino lol she doesn't speak spanish and was born and raised in Europe and partly america she's as latino as McDonald trump and I know what a latino is I'm Venezuelan and mexican lol 1000% latino
Cristobal Cruz-Salinas Uf. That seems a very harsh and elitist. I believe she spoke Spanish growing up and is still bilingual today. (Yes, she was born in Spain because her military papá was stationed there.) She self identifies as white and Latina. Individuals who are racially and ethnically mixed have a right to claim their heritage. Attitudes like the one you just expressed are responsible for a lot of young Latinx kiddos I know abandoning their heritage because they are sent the message that they are not “Latino enough” or their Spanish isn’t authentic enough or their features aren’t dark enough. You can say she shouldn’t have written this story, but to say she shouldn’t call herself Latina is too far. Will you raise your children to be proud of their heritage? How will you feel if their children are told they don’t count as “real” Latinos because they are mixed?
I understand how Mexicans feel regarding this book but their frustration is with publishers, not Jeanine. She obviously came from a good place writing this. Harriet Beecher Stowe was a white woman who wrote about slavery. Uncle Tom’s Cabin was a book that helped end slavery. It’s about writing something that starts a discussion.
As a Latin woman I would like to say that I've loved this book. The narrative helps to develop empathy for migrants and her approach is very sensitive. She is a great writer.
Writers can write whatever they want. I can't believe that people have the audacity to think otherwise.
@@lancejohnson127 She is profiting from acting like she is doing the community a favor. Aww how gracious of her to use racist tropes to ACT like she is doing sometime for people of color while really only profiting off plagiarized work.
Still doesnt change the fact of censorship @@jennifercardenas6280
The book was well written for a mass audience. It was interesting, easy to read, relatable to anyone and it put a face to an issue that we hear about on the news daily. She has the right to research and write a book about anything she wants. I don't think that it is fair to limit writers to only write about their own lived experiences or cultural backgrounds. Silencing artists is never a good idea. We are making her the scapegoat for the publishing companies. The issue is that publishing companies only give white writers opportunities and we need to hold them accountable for that and have them change their discriminatory practices. Plenty of other books have been written about this issue by latinx writers but none of them get the book and movie deals that white authors get. The solution is not to silence and shame writers for writing about experiences that aren't their own but rather to hold the publishers responsible for the books that they choose to publish.
The publisher also marketed it poorly, selling it as the seminal, singular story of the modern immigrant.
Well, well written book. I enjoyed EVERY PAGE. Listened to it on audible too. Soul stirring. Narration was epic.
I animate a number of book clubs a year. One of my clubs suggested American Dirt. It came from a larger list of choices, and I need to say I am glad I chose it. I don't like contemporary fiction, by and large (my reading stays in the fin-de-siecle and the Edwardian years for the most part), but this novel has much to recommend. As I researched my book club lecture, I was horrified at the interviews with the poor author. The novel is extremely well researched and the voices in the fiction are unique and well rounded. The pace kept me up at night (but I think this marks it as successful as per what the novel sets out to do), and the subject matter was riveting. Fluent in Spanish, Mexico was always on my bucket-list: it is not anymore. I was horrified by what was confirmed via my own i-net snooping. Mexico is a corrupt and dangerous country, the migrants fleeing are doing so for very real reasons. Cummins brought this to light for me and spurred my curiosity, and thus related political awareness. Her demeanor in her interviews, especially Oprah (someone I loved prior to reading her treatment of Cummins) remains problem ridden: Cummins needs to stand up for her product; she needs to emphasize her voice, her concerns and the goal of her novel. She can, if she feels, apologize to the high-maintenance complaints from Latinax--terrible ppl really. To accuse an author of misrepresentation, colonization and thus exploitation of an entire ppl via a novel project is really an issue. The Age of Rage in which we live is a far cry from the more open-mined and politically savy 1990s. A leading critic in Queer Theory, for example, was a straight white woman. I fail to see how anyone's background should affect the stories they wish to tell. Giving privilege to a non-white writer for a non-white story is not acceptable. Either the story works or it doesn't. This story works. I hope the author reads this and that my words give her courage to battle the insipid criticism by critics "of color." Thank you for educating me, Jeanine Cummins--be strong and fight back!
I think she was really let down by her publisher - by the way they marketed and sold the book and put words in her mouth through their promotion.
Arrgh. This book touched a loose wire ... hit an American (northamerican🤣) nerve. Yup. The author is not a bona fide journalist; she is a storytelling writer.
Publishers are in business; the $$$ make their eyes open very wide. She feels she is LatinX being born in Spain (US Navy base?) and having a PR antecedent. Ok. Maybe.
My mother is buried in Mexico ...an ex pat. I lived in and out of central Mx since 1950s. I had many storytelling published friends there. In the 70s i worked at the Quaker House in DF. Recently they host long-term a Russian mother with 2 children. I spoke with Turkish men going to Canada and 10 young Americans taking their last vacations as volunteers before binding themselves to finding work to pay their huge STUDENT LOANS.
In NYC i also worked briefly with US Immigration lawyers.
I have a 1967 BA in Spanish lit which i got attending many classes in which i was the only non Cuban refugee.
...some of my background....
I believe the book was very5 WELL-INTENTIONED.
I follow news about "Mexico" murders, drugs and AMLO. The country was always on a rough road and now being a crazed conduit for ENTERING THE U.S. A terrible challenge. One housekeeper had told me of her nephew falling asleep under a small saguaro in the Arizona desert and being bitten by a slightly buried sidewinder. One of his fellows volunteered to stay with the body and return with it to central Mexico when immigration came to pick them up.
There are neither easy answers nor good answers. This darned book simply opens the bloody wounds wider. Dammit.
@@rosalindmartin4469 you are right on, plus you have a lived experience to ground your position. Fiction is just that. When it is historical, it can raise awareness, as this novel does. I think the treatment of the author, who is mixed in background, reflects the overall anxiety and downfalls of combative woke people. Question: do we use Latino/a or Latinx or both? My friends with relational backgrounds loathe Latinx--I just want to assure, as a professor, that I use what ppl from this lived experience prefer :) Thanks!!!
I bought her book, just because of all the cancel culture bull. Authors can write whatever fiction they want.
"I totally missed the point" There, fixed your comment for you.
@@scorpiusjones5436 I don't need your help to know my own mind. I buy what I want. I read what I want. I don't give a shit how butt hurt you are. My comment wasn't broken.
Me too. The march toward fascism is growing stronger.
@VV25VT HHCN You know nothing about me. I am not conservative. Don't drive a muscle car. I don't believe in censorship, My family is massive and I am well loved. When I die there will be more sadness than I deserve. Sorry that you are so jealous and angry at this woman for her success. I hope you lay down all that hate and find peace.
Love all of Jeanine’s books ❤️
Cristela Guerra fantastic job on interviewing Jeanine.
Jealousy,.. that Panamanian reporter, is a jealous individual just like all the others, that are critical to this book that has had great success, in helping those who are against immigrants to a better understanding of the struggles of the immigrants....
Peace for all you are an idiot and so is jeanine
The perils and hardships experienced by undocumented children and families exist in our local schools, organizations and homes. One doesn’t have to go to Mexico to see a person as “human” and in need of access, opportunity and love. The privileges and ignorance shared by the moderators are hard to hear but it’s an important conversation to have often. I am super glad Cristela Guerra is there to add a social justice framework to the discourse. I look forward to Oprah’s forum about this author’s work.
Jeanine great writing , no need to apologize you did your job as a writer of a novel, you did your research and at the end of the day IT IS A NOVEL. And appreciate writers like you who are willing to touch subjects like this.
Cristal, Criticism of that kind is childish. Depicting every small un importan pice of why she should or not have done … 🤣 is ridiculous and it would had take instead of 5 years 20 to publish a novel if she had trying to please everyone in the way you are inferring with all your questions .
“Everyone praised it” she says - uh, did she look at the critiques? Reviewers were barred from submitting negative reviews about the book before it was released
Reviewers were not barred form submitting negative reviews. Gurba was asked for a submission by Ms. and they were appropriately put off. Their brand is sisterhood, not 'cut a bish'. If, in fact, you have evidence that reviewers were 'barred', please direct me to those links. Because that would be an outrage.
@@sylviavasquez9523 Oh, please, don't be so ignorant. Of course bad reviews were pushed back. Why? Because this book was anointed as the next big literary cash cow, and those related to Flatiron, including Oprah and Sandra Cisneros, were told to promote it. Negative feedback was purposely ignored. That's how the business works.
If she hadn’t got 7 figures for it would this conversation even be happening??
IT IS RIDICULOUS THAT THE MODERATOR HAD TO CALL AN AUTHENTIC HISPANIC TO ASK QUESTIONS...... AS IF NOW WHITE PEOPLE CAN'T EVEN FUCKING ASK A QUESTION?????? THIS IS MADNESS!!!
She handled this as perfectly as possible given the misplaced hatred that has marred her career and will define her in the public eye. The injustices in publishing are not the fault of individual authors, especially those that are doing the work of galvanizing change in public sentiment and shedding light on the humanity of situations that are erased by sensational headlines.
The literary community has so much respect for you and we look forward to being able to look back on moments of grace. You are exemplifying all the values we preach.
I read fiction all the time and love historical fiction. I will then go and check facts - what really happened and what was poetic license? I believe thoughtful people will realize that it is not meant to be truth - that is the definition of fiction! Has every spy novel been written by spies? James Michener was not a native of Hawaii but wrote a book about it. Janet Evanovich has most likely not been a bond enforcement agent! Agatha Christie was not a Belgian detective! But they all wrote amazing books that entertain, enlighten and sometimes challenge us. This book has made me want to learn more about the experience of immigrants, the influence of cartels (Acapulco was a premier destination in my youth - is it really that bad now?) Unlike the previous administration who presented fiction as fact, Ms. Cummins has written a novel, a work of fiction and has presented it as such.
The masks come off at 1:02:07 for a moment. Cummins says "Do I have to give you guys receipts" and Guerra responds "Maybe. Yeah, I'm kinda asking for receipts."
Well done Jeanine, incredible book, best I have ever read. At the end of the day it is a work of fiction and a bloody good one at that.
She doesn't have to give money away to other organizations or other people just because she wrote a successful book. That was stupid.
The last question asked by an audience member completely dragged her LOL savage
@@t0nyc0nde the LAST comment (Cummins former teacher who READ the book). Read better, friend.
There actually appears to be plenty of jealousy driving the "outrage" due to the hefty advance Jeanine Cummins received and the glowing reviews for the book......this ongoing spectacle amplifies the worst aspects of the raucous middle-school lunchroom that is social media.
The majority of the Latinos suffer from jealousy,
It’s pathetic that the general public is allowing this moment to pass without pushback.
@@peaceforall3122 glad you revealed your racism. gOd bLeSs yOu
@@hardnewstakenharder no it's not racism, it's call TRUTH , we all have to face TRUTH....., many Hispanics (Latinos) ... need to take a long hard look in the mirror and see their inner self.....we all have flaws...
Whites, Blacks, Latinos, Asian, we all have to face reality about our inner self.
Yo soy de origen Hispanic.
Y me siento orgullosa de serlo.
The book is written in English for English speakers. How the heck is that cultural appropriation? If Cummins had dressed up in a sombrero and attempted to sing Canta no Llores and then do a Speedy Gonzales imitation then that would be cultural appropriation. Cummins lent her writing skills to a migrant story and shed light on the struggles of migrants everywhere. Thank you.
Yikes, Jeanine put quite the pity party for herself there. I was thinking about reading the book but this put me off it a bit.
Well, she is being dragged through the mud. But I agree that she should make no apologies. Be a force to deal with. My Mexican parents taught me to never back down in the face of bullies.
@@sylviavasquez9523 If Cummins cannot take the criticism, then she should have written a different book. She knew what was coming and had her lame excuses all lined up.
Its badly written, and is full of stereotypes. I couldn't get past the 4th chapter.
She should have written about the half-Latina lady who lives near the border and has an interest in these issues. That point of view she could have easily written from and it would have been a better story. She could have grappled with her own identity. That would have been a better novel. She would be writing what she knows and understands.
Tabetha D wow sounds like a best seller.
I am part of a number of book clubs and a few have chosen this novel. The problematic approaches by Oprah and LatinaX reflect a serious disconnect with community and writing. James Baldwin wrote white characters; Patricia Highsmith wrote male characters; E.M. Forster wrote straight characters...the list is enormous. This post millennial approach to not being able to say anything really about a race or sex or sexuality that isn't your own is a HUGE problem and hinders growth. I feel badly for the writer and I hope she stands her ground, or has started to. Hopefully the problems raised by the controversy surrounding her whiteness, offensive really, will die down and not hinder future book projects for Cummins.
I will say, the problem I saw was with the publisher, calling this book the seminal, singular piece of fiction about immigration. I think if they had let it be one of many, as it should be, it would’ve done well.
As a reader I thought it was great story telling I felt I was watching a film-
As a black woman I wonder how I would feel if she had written it it about someone from the Caribbean. Did anyone criticize Isabel Allende for Island Beneath the Sea?
VOLUME TOOOO LOW.....
Cummins spoke to zero migrants and she did little research, like watching documentaries and reading books by Mexican authors (which she then plagiarized). The reporter clearly asks her about the stories she heard from MIGRANTS, and Cummins evades the question and talks about the stories she heard from a worker helping migrants. Instead of asking the worker about how those migrants cope with the trauma of migrating, she asks the worker how she copes with the trauma of dealing with the migrants... Are you kidding me? The book is about the white savior's views. It is not about the migrants. She does not care about that angle. This book cannot be respected as a book on the migrant experience. It is just white fluff.
@@lancejohnson127 Already have... I am an author.
@@lancejohnson127 lmao, that is your response to someone informing the public on Cummins plagiarism. yikes, kinda wack Lance
shitty book, shitty politics, I'm gonna read Roberto Lovato's new book Unforgetting instead and advise you all to do the same.
When Cummins talks about the past work she’s done with/for the Latino community, she says, “Am I supposed to give you guys receipts?”
Regina Rodríguez-Martin wow I guess she is trying to be a white savior so obvious
The BEST review I've seen by a Latinx person who read the book. Enjoy! ruclips.net/video/l2JxFtDUddY/видео.html [Edit: and YES! Cristela Guerra at 1:00:30. THANK YOU!]
Loved this book. A page turner. Heavy duty, well documented, emotional. One great contribution to the lit on migrants. Sequel? I want to know what happens with Luca and Lydia, Rebecca & Soledad. Does Javier show up?
I think she handled this pretty well. Having read the book I understand its criticism and agree certainly that its authenticity is compromised. However, it is a work of fiction?
I experience Shannon Dooling as emotionally disconnected from the author, and it isn't easy to witness this White woman.
Ok so what will you do to help the Latin community?? Huh???
Only black hispanics can talk about hispanics? only black muslims can talk about muslims. That is what i take away from this show...
Well. She likes to hear herself talk. And she feels very sorry for herself. I do feel for her because when you're white and you try to reach outside your bubble of privilege, you are often met with hatred, even if your intentions are good. I get why she wanted to justify her writing of the book and explain why she feels she'd done her due diligence, but I think she could have feigned a little more humility for this interview to avoid this whole "I'm the victim" vibe. I wonder why she didn't collaborate with a Mexican migrant writer for this project - even if it had just been for optics and to give her work greater credibility. It's not like migrant authors are in short supply. Cultural appropriation largely implies you are profiting from a suppressed people's voice/story/culture. I suggest that she donate all the profits from her book to a relevant organization helping families at the border or giving scholarships to aspiring Chicano creative writing majors. I'm sure she can afford it.
Kimberly Cronen you’re the one out of touch my friend. Collaborate with a Mexican migrant worker? Like what she gonna do put out an add on Craigslist asking an undocumented immigrant to “share their story” with her. Lol wow. Don’t burst your bubble now.
Kimberly Cronen that’s not how book advances working financially and its insane to suggest someone donate their hard earned paychecks because you and a small community have the *opinion* that they were the wrong skin color.
@@gv5806 I honestly have no idea how book deals work. Could you explain it? I don't think it's such a crazy idea. She says she wrote the book to help very vulnerable migrant people. So far it just seems to have offended them, which I'm sure is very confusing, hurtful, and disappointing for her. She could still redeem her hard work by publicly giving back the proceeds to the marginalized community whose story she is profiting from.
@@gv5806 By the way, I'm not judging her. So far I haven't heard any specific criticism that seems substantive. Plus, I haven't read the book. (The thing about not using the Mexican version of the boogeyman seems like a silly criticism, when it appears she was trying to make a cultural comparison that her readers could identify with.) But I do know in a small way how it can be painful to have someone misrepresent your story. I just wonder why she didn't cover her bases by co-authoring or basing her story on someone real, similar to how Sonia Nazario did with Enrique's Journey. She wasn't clueless about how controversial this could have been, yet she still went about it in a way that had the potential to be criticized. I just think it's a shame because she invested so much of her life in this endeavor and it seems like this could have been avoided. Maybe not, though. There are always haters out there. Like I said, I haven't read the book.
@@sharamusica Sonia Nazario did it to tell one young man's story. I'm in a northern state, and I've had dozens of migrants come to me eager to tell their stories - apropos of nothing, really. I'm not a social worker or a writer or a lawyer or a minister or anyone important. Just a regular person who is low-key friendly and likes to listen. People enjoy sharing their stories with a person who will just listen without judgment. It wouldn't have been hard. She says she was down at the border and has been interviewing people for five years. She must have heard dozens and dozens of stories.
they deal with cartels then try to run.
Bored Eats you dont know that. only thing you people know is get fat n watch tv 😂🤣
Cartels exist because uhm... some, (way too many) individuals grew up in a dysfunctional family and are crack heads. Somewhere in the American Continent... So, thank you for creating a market place (Mexico) that has created and paved a grenade field like for young Mexicans to grow in such difficult environment 😞
You dealt with a monarchy then ran to US.
Her voice, is she going to cry?
As a proud Mexican-American with undocumented family members I'd have to pass on this novel due to the author being a white European born American raised non latino..
I think she is Latina, actually. Still white and not Mexican, though.
@@kimberlycronen3998 she's not Latina at all I checked
Cristobal Cruz-Salinas She’s Puerto Rican. American and Latina and White. (Latinx isn’t a race, but rather an ethnicity.)
@@kimberlycronen3998 she only latino roots she has is a Puerto Rican abuela that does not qualify you as latino lol she doesn't speak spanish and was born and raised in Europe and partly america she's as latino as McDonald trump and I know what a latino is I'm Venezuelan and mexican lol 1000% latino
Cristobal Cruz-Salinas Uf. That seems a very harsh and elitist. I believe she spoke Spanish growing up and is still bilingual today. (Yes, she was born in Spain because her military papá was stationed there.) She self identifies as white and Latina. Individuals who are racially and ethnically mixed have a right to claim their heritage. Attitudes like the one you just expressed are responsible for a lot of young Latinx kiddos I know abandoning their heritage because they are sent the message that they are not “Latino enough” or their Spanish isn’t authentic enough or their features aren’t dark enough. You can say she shouldn’t have written this story, but to say she shouldn’t call herself Latina is too far. Will you raise your children to be proud of their heritage? How will you feel if their children are told they don’t count as “real” Latinos because they are mixed?