“AMERICAN DIRT” REDUX

Last January, I posted “The Dirt on ‘American Dirt’” about the criticism of a novel by Jeanine Cummins coming out a best-seller. I hadn’t read it but saw political correctness running amok. Recently, I read the book. I haven’t changed my mind. Claims of “cultural appropriation” often go overboard. Personally, I believe a non-Jew can…

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THE DIRT ON “AMERICAN DIRT”

They’re at it again. The new novel American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins has drawn lots of attention. Following a major publicity campaign by Flatiron Books, a division of Macmillan, American Dirtreceived a number of terrific reviews. Oprah Winfrey chose it for her book club (Flatiron published four of Oprah’s books), the ultimate U.S. sales driver. Then…

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CONFESSIONS OF A CULTURE CRIMINAL

Last September, I wrote about “cultural appropriation” in “Let the Book Burning Begin.” Some attendees at a literary festival in Australia excoriated the novelist Lionel Shriver for advocating that “white” writers should be free to create characters of other ethnicities. They can also excoriate me! My novel Slick! (one of Kirkus Reviews’ 25 Best Indy…

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