Last night I was perusing Amazon because I had ordered A Tree Grows In Brooklyn (thanks, Kristi) and “based on my reading preferences” a book called American Dirt was suggested for me.
I’ve seen this book recommended in reading groups so I decided to check the reviews. It’s been described as “this generation’s Grapes of Wrath.” I’ve never read that one either. How the hell I graduated college with a degree in English lit escapes me. I digress. I tend to read reviews before I buy books, and I start normally with the one stars. I always do this with anything that’s been hyped up – I want to see what real people think about it, although I know that not every review on Amazon is real.
Most of the reviews were good, saying that it wasn’t as good as the hype, but most were okay. I had decided from the reviews that it wasn’t really my type of book and would give it a pass, when I came upon a review that made me pause. I honestly didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. The book is about Mexican immigrants, their struggles in crossing the border, why they came to America, and what happens once they’re here. It was written by a white woman.
This reviewer said, (I paraphrase) that she was loving the book, truly enjoying it and then discovered it was written by a white woman. She immediately put it down and got a book written by a “Chicanx” author.
What.
The
Actual
Fuck?
You gave up an enjoyable experience simply because of the color of the author’s skin? How the fuck does one wrap one’s brain into such a twist that they can justify this?
I am living in the Twilight Zone, more and more every day. It’s rare that I know the lineage of an author. It’s sometimes a guess as to the author’s name if it’s a book I’m just reading for light entertainment – and if you ask me a year later who wrote a specific book, I’d probably have to look it up. (In my defense, I read a lot – close to 100 books a year)
I read for enjoyment. If I like a story, I read it. If not, I give up on it – that’s rare but it has happened, I just hate to not finish a book. I’ve never chosen a book based on the author’s sex, religion, or ancestry.
To say that someone can’t write about any culture other than their own is a form of censorship, in my view. If that’s the rule, I can only ever tell a story about an old white woman with a Golden Retriever, but I can’t mention anything that dog might be thinking because I’m not a dog, nor can I talk about the experiences of the lady down the road because she’s 17 years older than me, or the dear sweet child you all know as Peachy, or about my husband because he’s a guy and I’m not, no matter how you identify gender these days.
How limiting! How utterly stupid! Not only limiting to the author, but limiting to the reader – if you can only choose authors based on your prejudices – and this is as much racism as saying I’d never read a book by a black author – how will you ever learn anything?
Suziecreamcheese Sings the Blues 
Why would anyone think it’s good to limit themselves on anything that gives them an opportunity to learn? Don’t writers usually research the things they want to write about but haven’t lived? That person has missed out on reading what might have been a very impactful book because they judged the book by the author. It’s sad really when you think about it.
I love reading the 1 star reviews when I’m shopping online. I’m sure I’ve saved myself plenty of aggravation by passing on some seemly fantastic items that weren’t.
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It just totally blew my mind. I could understand if the author got things wrong from not doing research but apparently this was not a case of that. It’s insane
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Hmm, I guess it’s going to be a long time before I get to read a science fiction story written from the point of view of an alien. Can I still watch Constantine where angels, God and Lucifer all have parts? Gosh, the world is getting so confusing.😔
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nope, unless the author is an angel or a demon, you can’t watch those shows. Sorry, not sorry. Oh, and no more dog blogs – that’s like racism or something. Sorry. Not sorry. I think you’re safe with the alien stuff, though, because I’m pretty sure that most of Hollyweird is aliens anyway.
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HAHAHA love this
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I don’t know how to break this to you but this comment was not actually written by a Maltese dog. I know, it’s a shock.
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I have to go into a quiet place and color now
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My jaw actually dropped open a bit at that one! I, too, read for pleasure, read as an escape. I don’t choose a book by author unless I see one by a favored author that I haven’t read yet. And I favor an author because I like the story lines and the way they tell them, A lot of tangible books show a photo of the author in the back anyhow! I am not really angry – what I feel is pity – pity for someone who will miss out of things in life because of a narrow-minded and prejudiced perception!
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I’m the same – I’m currently on a Karin Slaughter binge because I love her characters and writing style. Imagine what I’d lose if I refused to read her books because she’s a white woman!
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Oh, I like Karin Slaughter’s books! Have you tried any Lisa Gardner or Lisa Jackson? My favorite genre is thrillers, especially psychological thrillers!
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I have! I love a good mystery and I confess to a crush on Will Trent. 😁. I also read a lot of YA and fantasy and pretty much anything that’s a good story. I just finished Jamaica inn and will start Rent Collector today.
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I can understand the readers view Only if the book is supposed to be a True Story About The Author! Otherwise, that’s ridiculous! I love to read and ‘The Grapes Of Wrath’ is one of my favorites! We need to read books by Authors of all walks of life, in order to stay Well Rounded.
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Exact! This book is a work of fiction!
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Who knew that when we watched the Twilight zone back in the day it would be real life!
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