American Dirt (Oprah's Book Club)

Jeanine Cummins's American Dirt, the #1 New York Times bestseller and Oprah Book Club pick that has sold over three million copies

Lydia lives in Acapulco. She has a son, Luca, the love of her life, and a wonderful husband who is a journalist. And while cracks are beginning to show in Acapulco because of the cartels, Lydia's life is, by and large, fairly comfortable. But after her husband's tell-all profile of the newest drug lord is published, none of their lives will ever be the same.

Forced to flee, Lydia and Luca find themselves joining the countless people trying to reach the United States. Lydia soon sees that everyone is running from something. But what exactly are they running to?

“Vogue : The 22 Best Books to Read This Winter Marie Claire : The Best Winter 2019 Book Releases to Curl Up With on Your Couch Real Simple : Most Anticipated Books of 2020 PopSugar: 22 of the Best Books This Winter Has to Offer "I strive to write page-turners because I love to read them, and it''s been a long time since I turned pages as fast as I did with American Dirt . Its plot is tight, smart, and unpredictable. Its message is important and timely, but not political. Its characters are violent, compassionate, sadistic, fragile, and heroic. It is rich in authenticity. Its journey is a testament to the power of fear and hope and belief that there are more good people than bad." -- John Grisham " American Dirt is both a moral compass and a riveting read. I couldn''t put it down. I''ll never stop thinking about it." -- Ann Patchett , #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Dutch House and Commonwealth "Why do we read fiction? By immersing ourselves in the lives of fictional characters we gain emotional depth, breadth, and empathy. We become more human. I have never felt more changed--or challenged--by a book than I have by American Dirt . It''s truly a revelation." -- Elin Hilderbrand , #1 New York Times bestselling author of Summer of ''69 "Relevant, powerful, extraordinary. It is a remarkable combination of joy and terror, infused always with the restorative power of a mother''s love and the endless human capacity for hope. I hope everyone reads it and is as moved by it as I was." -- Kristin Hannah , #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Nightingale and The Great Alone "Riveting, timely, a dazzling accomplishment. Jeanine Cummins makes us all LIVE and BREATHE the refugee story." -- Julia Alvarez , author of In the Time of the Butterflies " American Dirt is an extraordinary piece of work, a perfect balancing act with terror on one side and love on the other. I defy anyone to read the first seven pages of this book and not finish it. The prose is immaculate, and the story never lets up. This book will be an important voice in the discussion about immigration and los migrantes ; it certainly puts the lie to the idea that we are being besieged by ''bad hombres.'' On a micro scale--the story scale, where I like to live--it''s one hell of a novel about a good woman on the run with her beautiful boy. It''s marvelous." -- Stephen King "From its heart-stopping first sentence to its heart-shattering last, Cummins''s story of immigrants is just what we need now. Gritty yet sensitive, realistic yet hopeful, grand and granular, American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins is a Grapes of Wrath for our times." -- Don Winslow , author of the New York Times bestseller The Border "Jeanine Cummins writes with such grace, compassion, and precision that I could not stop reading." -- Erika S”

#1 New York Times Bestseller
OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK
#1 Indie Next Pick
Library Reads Pick

"I devoured the novel in a dry-eyed adrenaline rush.... A profoundly moving reading experience."
--The Washington Post

"The story is masterfully composed of timeless elements: the nightmare logic of grief, the value of human kindness, the power of love to drive us to do the unimaginable...Cummins proves that fiction can be a vehicle for expanding our empathy."
--Time

"American Dirt just gutted me, and I didn't just read this book--I inhabited it.... Everything about this book was so extraordinary. It's suspenseful, the language is beautiful, and the story really opened my heart. I highly recommend it, and you will not want to put it down. It is just a magnificent novel."
--Oprah Winfrey

"This novel is a heart-stopping story of survival, danger, and love..."
--The New York Times

"Heartfelt and hopeful, American Dirt is a novel for our times. Thrilling, epic, and unforgettable..."
--Esquire

"This tense, illuminating novel takes off like a rocket..."
--People (Book of the Week)

"American Dirt is a literary novel with nuanced character development and arresting language; yet, its narrative hurtles forward with the intensity of a suspense tale. Its most profound achievement, though, is something I never could've been told...American Dirt is the novel that, for me, nails what it's like to live in this age of anxiety, where it feels like anything can happen, at any moment."
--NPR's Fresh Air

"Propulsive."
--Elle

"American Dirt is an extraordinary piece of work, a perfect balancing act with terror on one side and love on the other. I defy anyone to read the first seven pages of this book and not finish it. The prose is immaculate, and the story never lets up.... On a micro scale--the story scale, where I like to live--it's one hell of a novel about a good woman on the run with her beautiful boy. It's marvelous."
--Stephen King

"American Dirt is both a moral compass and a riveting read. I couldn't put it down. I'll never stop thinking about it."
--Ann Patchett, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Dutch House and Commonwealth

"A heart-pounding, page-turning, can't-put-it-down, stay-up-till-3 a.m., adrenaline-pumping story...that examines, with sensitivity, care, and complexity of thought, immense, soul-obliterating trauma and its aftermath."
--Los Angeles Times

"This is the international story of our times. Masterful."
--Sandra Cisneros

"Relevant, powerful, extraordinary. It is a remarkable combination of joy and terror, infused always with the restorative power of a mother's love and the endless human capacity for hope."
--Kristin Hannah, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Nightingale, The Great Alone, and The Four Winds

"Destined to be a classic."
--Woman's Day

"Stunning...remarkable.... A novel as of the zeitgeist as any, American Dirt is also an account of love on the run that will never lose steam."
--Vogue

"I strive to write page-turners because I love to read them, and it's been a long time since I turned pages as fast as I did with American Dirt. Its plot is tight, smart, and unpredictable. Its message is important and timely, but not political. Its characters are violent, compassionate, sadistic, fragile, and heroic. It is rich in authenticity. Its journey is a testament to the power of fear and hope and belief that there are more good people than bad."
--John Grisham

"This one will tug at your heartstrings."
--Marie Claire

"Pulse-pounding."
--Chicago Tribune

"As literature, American Dirt is modern realism at its finest: a tale of moral challenge in the spirit of Theodore Dreiser wrapped inside a big-hearted social epic like The Grapes of Wrath."
--New York Journal of Books

"This is a book that's both hard to read and hard to put down and will no doubt spark a lot of conversation."
--Real Simple

"This extraordinary novel about unbreakable determination will move the reader to the core."
--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Lydia and Luca are utterly believable characters, and their breathtaking journey moves with the velocity and power of one of those freight trains. Intensely suspenseful and deeply humane, this novel makes migrants seeking to cross the southern U.S. border indelibly individual."
--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Beautiful, straightforward language drives home the point that migration to safer places is not a political issue but a human one."
--Booklist (starred review)

"The most gripping thriller you'll read this side of Marathon Man. This thing goes harder than a Lee Child novel and the writing sings. Deserves to be a Gone Girl-level hit."
--Joe Hill, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Fireman and Heart-Shaped Box

"This is a book everyone should read."
--Woman & Home

"This powerful new novel promises readers a ride they'll never forget."
--She Reads

"Both timely and prodigiously readable...An important book."
--Library Journal (starred review)

"A testimony of courage."
--Parade

"Riveting, timely, a dazzling accomplishment."
--Julia Alvarez, author of In the Time of the Butterflies, How the Garc�a Girls Lost Their Accents, Saving the World, A Wedding in Haiti, and Afterlife

"At once intimate and epic, American Dirt is an exhilarating and beautiful book about parental love and human hope."
--Rumaan Alam, author of the New York Times bestseller Leave the World Behind

Jeanine Cummins is the author of the novels The Outside Boy and The Crooked Branch and the bestselling memoir A Rip in Heaven. She lives in New York with her husband and two children.

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