American Dirt Paperback – 21 January 2020

I loved this book and ordered it for a Mexican friend. Accidentally ordered in English

Histoire terrible et passionnante des migrants mexicains qui essaient de rejoindre les États Unis. Notre book club a bcp aimé.

Although I could notice that some details of the main character were maybe a bit more US American than Mexican, when the journey starts it gets real. It would have been impossible to write this without serious research. I learned a lot and now ordered two more books about the same subject. In literary terms, it is a compelling reading and in the end I was sad that it had finished, which I guess is one of the best things you can say about a book.

Ignore the negative reviews and read this book. I laugh at these 1-star reviewers who have a track-record of giving 5-star ratings to books no self-respecting person would acknowledge reading. Shame on them for dragging a successful author with a powerful pen.American Dirt has the most gripping opening chapter I have read in a very, very long time. The prose is perfect and there will be no qualms from even the pickiest reader about a writing style that distracts from the plot.The negative press made me think this was some Hollywoodized sensational narrative. It isn’t. The story is believable. Just because an experience is foreign and beyond your realm of the possible, it doesn’t mean it isn’t experienced by real human beings beyond your neighbourhood.As an immigrant myself, the drive to survive and the primordial value of life that permeates the narrative is something I deeply connected with and found impressively evoked in every page.As an avid reader of literature, I am very careful when selecting contemporary novels for fear they won’t measure up to the classics. I am glad I trusted the recommendations for this one. This book will stay with me for the rest of my life.Finally, don’t be surprised if this story sparks a current of activism in you. As we sit here browsing on Amazon, there are millions of humans worldwide going through unspeakable trials for a better life here on earth.

American dirt makes you relate with the pain of refugees to a whole another level. Their sufferings, the struggle, the strength, the scare, the loot, the molestation seems like their only life. Give it a read and you will turn out with an aching heart of gold.