Blog the Book

American Dirt is sort of like Donald Trump: an epic series of outrages that only seems to get worse by the day, especially now that Oprah and the white supremacists have entered the fray (on the same side!). It’s too much to keep track of, and any number of things that should individually disqualify this book from existence (like borderline “plagiarism”) get lost in the morass of awfulness.

The book itself is insignificant except that it forms a convenient hub. It’s emblematic of problems not just in publishing, but in the United States itself. It’s not the cause of any of them, but it is the furthering of all of them.

Let’s have some fun and blog the book, chapter by chapter. Let’s try for a target of 1,000 words per chapter.

To sign up, just add a comment with your name, twitter handle, and the chapter you want.

There are 36 Chapters, plus an afterward, and an authors note. Every one of them is a crime in itself. I’ll post a list of chapters and names as folks signup.

Meanwhile, here’s a fun breakdown by @LalaMarissaC

Chapter 1: @VictorNWJustice
Chapter 2: @susanabenavidez
Chapter 3: Lee Hammond
Chapter 4: @SchmidtTales
Chapter 5: @cynthiadotorg
Chapter 7: @dvidsilva
Chapter 10: @CoatlicueLisa
Chapter 13: @rouxrm
Chapter 17: @calvinhunter75
Chapter 19: @nessabrown27
Chapter 33: Beverly Slapin

Chapter 1
WOW, it just throws you right in the action. The Spanish palabras feel like they were dropped in sin razón, they don’t feel natural and orgánicas. Why is Balón de fútbol in Spanish? It’s a damn soccer ball like I get what the author was going for but poor execution. 😂— Laura Marissa Cullell (@LalaMarissaC) January 27, 2020

Chapter Dos (2) #AmericanDirt
She shakes her head. “One ate the chicken.”
The detective writes pollo in his notebook.

Classic Detective. pic.twitter.com/HMygi9JWRG

— Laura Marissa Cullell (@LalaMarissaC) January 27, 2020

Chapter 3 #AmericanDirt
This little gem:

“A surprising thing happens to Luca after Mami finally opens the doors of their hotel room with her card key, after she looks both ways up and down the carpeted corridor…The surprising thing that happens to him is: nothing.” pic.twitter.com/B1t8zmbu3p

— Laura Marissa Cullell (@LalaMarissaC) January 27, 2020

Chapter 4 #AmericanDirt
So far, this novel reads like a shitty telenovela written by someone who doesn’t understand how telenovelas are written. The characters are just cardboard cutouts for the story. Very one-dimensional and lack any personality? Other than a single interest.

— Laura Marissa Cullell (@LalaMarissaC) January 27, 2020

Chapter 5 #AmericanDirt
Spoilers? If you care?

Earlier in chaps 3 + 4 we learned that Lydia made friends with Javier whom she met at her bookstore and shared a love of books.

Twist tiem!

Javier is the cartel leader who killed her fam.

Twist #2: He knows she’s in the hotel. pic.twitter.com/BAdgdB2Ypu

— Laura Marissa Cullell (@LalaMarissaC) January 27, 2020

Chapter 20 #AmericanDirt
Author’s take on The Simpsons right after the above :

“…so they put on Los Simpson. At home, Mami doesn’t like Luca watching Los Simpson because she thinks Bart is rude, and she doesn’t want Luca to start saying things like ‘cómete mis calzoncillos’ pic.twitter.com/NhzoZ7EMkd

— Laura Marissa Cullell (@LalaMarissaC) January 28, 2020