American Dirt
Book - 2020
"También de este lado hay sueños. Lydia Quixano Perez lives in the Mexican city of Acapulco. She runs a bookstore. She has a son, Luca, the love of her life, and a wonderful husband who is a journalist. And while there are cracks beginning to show in Acapulco because of the drug cartels, her life is, by and large, fairly comfortable. Even though she knows they'll never sell, Lydia stocks some of her all-time favorite books in her store. And then one day a man enters the shop to browse and comes up to the register with four books he would like to buy-two of them her favorites. Javier is erudite. He is charming. And, unbeknownst to Lydia, he is the jefe of the newest drug cartel that has gruesomely taken over the city. When Lydia's husband's tell-all profile of Javier is published, none of their lives will ever be the same. Forced to flee, Lydia and eight-year-old Luca soon find themselves miles and worlds away from their comfortable middle-class existence. Instantly transformed into migrants, Lydia and Luca ride la bestia-trains that make their way north toward the United States, which is the only place Javier's reach doesn't extend. As they join the countless people trying to reach el norte, Lydia soon sees that everyone is running from something. But what exactly are they running to? American Dirt will leave readers utterly changed when they finish reading it. A page-turner filled with poignancy, drama, and humanity on every page, it is a literary achievement."-- Provided by publisher.
Publisher:
New York :, Flatiron Books,, 2020
Edition:
First U.S. edition
ISBN:
9781250209764
1250209765
9781250754080
1250754089
1250209765
9781250754080
1250754089
Characteristics:
386 pages ; 25 cm


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"Lydia is dubious at first, but if you can't trust a librarian, who can you trust?" -pg. 375
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weaverleeanna
Apr 06, 2020
"Every day a fresh horror, and when it's over, this feeling of surreal detachment. A disbelief, almost, in what they just endured. The mind is magical. Human beings are magical.”

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Add a CommentAmerican Dirt is a tragic story of survival. Lydia and her son make the harrowing journey el Norte while facing many obstacles. I was anxious to finish this book but at the same time afraid to see how their journey ends. As far as the controversy is concerned, I believe this is a work of fiction and should be read as such.
Too grim to read.
Compelling, fast paced story. I finished it in a weekend. Couldn’t put it down!
"A Grapes of Wrath" for our times by Don Winslow is the blurb on the cover of American Dirt. I'm sorry, this is not anywhere close to Steinbeck's classic in my opinion. I found the writing very simplistic and cliche-ridden. So much so that I gave up reading it after 80 pages. I appreciate the author's intent, but this novel did not resonate with me.
Good story, read as fiction, had no expectations going into it.
This book is intense! Heart pounding, exactly! I had to switch to an Anne Tyler book every few chapters just to calm myself down. This is an unforgetable, amazing book, one of the best I've read in years. Don't read it before bed!
Powerful. Compelling. Timely.
Heart-pounding, takes you along for the ride.
Melodramatic; inauthentic; for general audience.
Great book! Compelling story about a Mex migrant and her son escaping the cartel to get to American soil.