Nearly a week after she announced Jeanine Cummins’ buzzy novel “American Dirt” as her latest book club pick, Oprah Winfrey has broken her silence on the mounting backlash the title has sparked. In a video shared to her book club Instagram on Sunday, Winfrey commented on the brewing controversy surrounding Cummins’ migrant tale and acknowledged the concerns many in the Latinx community have voiced about the selection. “There’s been a lot of talk about this book, lately, and I just wanted you all to hear, directly from me, that I read an advance copy of ‘American Dirt’ last summer, before it even was an official book,” Winfrey said in the video. Advertisement“What made me cringe was immediately realizing that this book was not written for people like me, for immigrants,” Bermudez wrote. I think it’s going to allow us to open up the conversation in unexpected and — I really hope — meaningful ways.”The “American Dirt” edition of “Oprah’s Book Club” launches on Apple TV+ in March.

Source: Los Angeles Times January 27, 2020 23:15 UTC