American Dirt

Is American Dirt a successful romantic thriller or a failed literary novel? Was marketing a factor in the book’s critical fortunes? Explain.

Who is Cummins’s intended audience? How is this articulated in her writing?

Lydia is a middle-class woman who lived in relative safety and comfort before her family’s massacre. What impact does this point of entry into the migrant experience have on the story? Would Cummins have avoided some of the criticisms leveled at her had her protagonist been poor?

In Chapter 3, Lydia’s terror distracts her from her grief. Her refrain throughout the novel is “don’t think.” Luca similarly distracts himself from negative emotions by reciting facts about different places. Discuss they ways in which compartmentalization allows various characters to cope with their circumstances, and how this in turn drives the narrative forward.

The relationship between Lydia and Luca is central to the book. Discuss how action, dialogue, imagery, and allusion express the nuances of this bond.

Discuss Javier in relation to the Latin lover trope in romance novels.

Sebastián ran his story about Los Jardineros knowing it would endanger him and his family. Weigh professional responsibility against personal safety. Is the potential for societal good more valuable than the lives of a few individuals? Who should be making such life and death decisions?

Sexual violence is endemic to the female migrant experience. Discuss the idea of the cuerpomático and how it relates to broader societal views of women.