American Dirt: 'Cancel culture' embraces book burning in the digital age

You don’t need fire to burn books in 2020. A raging social-justice mob will suffice, ginned up by authors unwilling to fight back against censorship. Sound hyperbolic? Consider the case of Jeanine Cummins. The author’s new book, “American Dirt,” seemed like the next literary sensation. The novel follows a bookstore owner in Mexico whose family is killed by a drug cartel. The character flees the country with her surviving son, making the arduous trek to the U.S. border for safety. Stephen King sang its praises. Oprah Winfrey added it to her illustrious “Book Club” list. The company that helped bring Clint Eastwood’s “The Mule” to theaters gobbled up the book rights. And then all heck broke loose. Activist/author Myriam Gurba dubbed “American Dirt” problematic — and then some — in her December review titled, “Pendeja, You Ain’t Steinbeck.” (Author Guy Winslow had favorably compared “Dirt” to “Grapes of Wrath.”) Gurba told The Guardian: “I hope this makes people realize how conservative publishing really is,” as if that, in and of itself, is a thought crime worthy of punishment. Next, a group of 121 authors demanded that Winfrey remove the book from her official list, the digital flames growing hotter. “In a time of widespread misinformation, fear-mongering, and white-supremacist propaganda related to immigration and to our border, in a time when adults and children are dying in U.S. immigration cages, we believe that a novel blundering so badly in its depiction of marginalized, oppressed people should not be lifted up,” the letter said, shining a light on the ideological nature of the attacks. Consider how liberal movie critics razed 2019’s “Last Blood” as “racist” for implying a border wall might be needed after all. Next, Cummins’ book tour got shelved after just five stops. The reasons why will sound familiar to anyone well-versed in the left’s dog-eared playbook — “specific threats to booksellers and the author.” According to Flatiron Publishing's Bob Miller, “We believe there exists real peril to their safety.” Violent threats against “problematic” artists is hardly new. Phelim McAleer’s stage production of “FBI Lovebirds: UnderCovers” had to find a new venue last year after threats forced the first theater to cancel its contract with McAleer’s team. The play upended the left’s narrative surrounding President Donald Trump, and thus it became a target. A church similarly faced violent threats after it scheduled a screening of “The Rise of Jordan Peterson” last year. The Canadian professor is routinely attacked by the far left for his opinions. The screening went on as planned, but with tighter security to keep everyone safe...MORE