Zibby's Essay: "In Defense of AMERICAN DIRT... and Just Being a Nice Person"
[0:08]Hi, I'm Zibi Owens and you're listening to the award-winning podcast.
[0:12]Moms don't have time to read books.
[0:13]Hi, every so often I read one of my own essays on this podcast.
[0:17]And I wanted to read one because I feel so strongly about what I wrote in this piece
[0:21]that I just have to read it.
[0:23]It's called In Defense of American Dirt and Just Being a Nice Person.
[0:27]This has gone too far.
[0:29]I am truly baffled by the controversial response to American dirt,
[0:33]the stunning debut novel by Jeanine Pemens.
[0:35]And by the way, she'll be in my podcast soon.
[0:37]Jeanine's book is absolutely sensational.
[0:39]I couldn't put it down.
[0:40]And as the host of a literary podcast, Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books,
[0:44]I read more than 150 books a year, so that's really saying something.
[0:47]This book simply stands apart.
[0:49]I don't care that Jeanine wasn't a Mexican refugee herself or even Mexican.
[0:53]That's entirely beside the point.
[0:55]I don't care what her race, gender, or nationality is.
[0:58]What I care about is her book, How It Makes Me Feel, What It Makes Me Think About.
[1:02]How I stayed up late at night, flipping pages in the dim bedside light
[1:05]as my husband slept beside me because I couldn't bear to put it down.
[1:09]Did I miss a memo?
[1:10]Since when do authors have to actually be like the characters they portray in fiction?
[1:15]Isn't that the whole point of fiction that writers can conjure up entirely new people,
[1:19]new scenes, and new places that somehow take us readers out of our own minds and into other worlds?
[1:25]American Dirt is a once-in-a-lifetime read.
[1:27]The language is absolutely captivating.
[1:29]The characters are so real I felt like I would recognize them if they walked in my living room.
[1:33]The scenery was depicted so vividly I could feel the hot sun scorching me as I walked through the desert.
[1:38]The story transported me and gave me insights into a life experience I most like will never live
[1:43]myself.
[1:44]So why are so many people absolutely livid?
[1:47]Perhaps Jeanine's seven-figure advance has the haters jealous?
[1:50]Perhaps seeing others succeed in any way at any cost, royals, anger?
[1:54]But why does it make it okay to be this mean?
[1:57]As a mom of four children, I try all the time to teach my kids to be kind to others,
[2:02]to put themselves in other people's shoes, and to treat people the way they would want to be treated.
[2:06]I tell them that if they don't have something nice to say, they shouldn't say anything at all.
[2:10]And yet as I flip through the newspapers in the mornings as we all inhale our breakfast,
[2:14]I ingest nasty angry diatribes that feel personal, unwarranted, and just cruel.
[2:20]Why? Why do people have to be so mean?
[2:23]How does this help anyone?
[2:24]Jeanine herself has had extreme trauma in her life.
[2:27]Her teenage cousins were raped and killed.
[2:29]What more does she have to go through to earn enough legitimacy to write a captivating novel filled
[2:34]with trauma?
[2:35]I am all for literary criticism.
[2:37]I devour book reviews and find many offer valuable insights like an English teacher bringing
[2:41]new light to something familiar or exposing me to books I haven't had time to read.
[2:45]But reviews that simply slander authors go against all the rules of being a good literary citizen.
[2:51]The worst part is they're typically written by other writers.
[2:55]What happened to community sticking up for one another, having each other's backs?
[2:59]One of our own, an author, has produced a stellar breath-taking work of art.
[3:03]Like all the great authors before her of all different genders, races, and nationalities,
[3:08]Jeanine is a gifted storyteller.
[3:09]Let her tell her story.
[3:11]Listen to it.
[3:12]Enjoy it.
[3:13]Learn from her unique point of view in the way she sees and paints the world.
[3:17]Appreciate her fiction.
[3:18]She didn't claim to do anything other than tell a story.
[3:21]She even says that although she may not be the best person to tell that story,
[3:25]it was better that she told it than it not being told at all.
[3:29]I won't forget Lydia and her son Luca.
[3:31]Their fictitious journey through Mexico has changed my life just like a good book should.
[3:36]If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.
[3:52]You can follow me on Instagram at momsdon'thavetimetoreadbooks.
[3:56]Thanks so much to Steve and Ryan at Texturesound for the Sound Editing.
[4:00]And thank you to Morningmoon Productions for providing this fantastic intro and out trim music.
[4:04]Thanks for listening.
[4:05]You can always email me at zibiadzibiowans.com.