How Not to Write a Book Review – The New Republic

Lauren Groffs review of American Dirt, Jeanine Cumminss new novel about a mother and son fleeing cartel violence in Mexico, is one of the odder articles that The New York Times Book Review has published in recent memory. It is less a work of criticism than a lengthy self-examination, with Groff, who is white, agonizing about whether it is even appropriate for her to review the book:

I was sure I was the wrong person to review this book. I could never speak to the accuracy of the books representation of Mexican culture or the plights of migrants; I have never been Mexican or a migrant. In contemporary literary circles, there is a serious and legitimate sensitivity to people writing about heritages that are not their own because, at its worst, this practice perpetuates the evils of colonization, stealing the stories of oppressed people for the profit of the dominant. I was further sunk into anxiety when I discovered that, although Cummins does have a personal stake in stories of migration, she herself is neither Mexican nor a migrant.

Things took a stranger turn when, shortly after the review was published, the Times tweeted a pull quote: American Dirt is one of the most wrenching books I have read in a few years, with the ferocity and political reach of the best of Theodore Dreisers novels. There was one problem: That sentence did not appear in the review itself. Groff demanded that the Times delete the tweet, which it did. Pamela Paul, the editor of the Book Review, explained that Groff had revised her piece, seemingly at the last minuteand seemingly once she got wind that a backlash was brewing against American Dirt. Groff then quasi-renounced the review: I give up, she tweeted. I wrestled like a beast with this review, the morals of my taking it on, my complicity in the white gaze.

Groffs public turn in a hair shirt raised several questions: Did she change her opinions in deference to political correctness? Why did she agree to the review in the first place, if she was so clearly uncomfortable putting her byline on it? And why didnt Groff or Paul see this disaster coming a mile away?

The answers to these questions begin with the publishers acquisition of American Dirt. Hype for the book began building as soon as it was bought by Flatiron for a seven-figure advance in 2018. A movie deal, involving the producers of The Mule and the writer of Blood Diamond, followed a year later. The book was hailed by John Grisham and Stephen King as a perfect thriller, and in the lead-up to its publication there were profiles of Cummins in the usual newspapers and glossy magazines, heralding the years first blockbuster novel.

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How Not to Write a Book Review - The New Republic