Jeanine Cummins

Jeanine Cummins is an American author.[1][2] She has written four books: a memoir titled A Rip in Heaven and three novels: The Outside Boy, The Crooked Branch, and American Dirt.[3]

Jeanine Cummins
BornRota 
Alma mater
OccupationNovelist 

Biography

Cummins was born in Rota, Spain, where her father was stationed as a member of the US Navy.[4] Her mother was a nurse.[5] Cummins spent her childhood in Gaithersburg, Maryland and attended Towson University, where she majored in English and communications. In 1993 Cummins was a finalist in the Rose of Tralee festival, an international event that is celebrated among Irish communities all over the world; at each festival in Tralee, Ireland, a woman is crowned the Rose.[6] After university she spent two years working as a bartender in Belfast, Northern Ireland, before moving back to the United States in 1997 and beginning work at Penguin in New York City.[1][7] She worked in the publishing industry for 10 years before becoming a full-time author.[8]

Her 2004 memoir, A Rip in Heaven, focuses on the attempted murder of her brother and the murder of two of her cousins on the Chain of Rocks Bridge in St. Louis, Missouri, when Cummins was 16.[9] She declined offers to film the book.[10] The publication of the book overlapped with her ten years working in publishing, and she had "the wonderfully unusual experience of working as a member of the sales force for my own book."[11]

Her next two novels explore Irish history. The Outside Boy(2010) is about Pavee travellers. The Crooked Branch (2013) is about the Irish potato famine.[10] These books will be published for the first time in Ireland in 2020.[6]

Cummins' 2020 novel, American Dirt, tells the story of a mother and bookstore owner in Acapulco, Mexico, who attempts to escape to the United States with her son after their family is killed by a drug cartel.[12][13] Cummins conducted research in Mexico for the novel, visiting migrant shelters and orphanages, interviewing humanitarian aid workers and lawyers who work with migrants, and volunteering at a desayunador (soup kitchen) in Tijuana.[14] In 2018 the book was sold to Flatiron after a three-day bidding war between nine publishers that resulted in a seven-figure deal.[15][16] From 2018 until its publication in January 2020, the book received roundly positive reviews. However, approximately one month before the release of the book, a negative review from Myriam Gurba was published in Tropics of Meta.[17][18] Then, a week before the release of the book, a string of critical reviews was published, starting with a review in the New York Times.[19][17] In these reviews, Cummins was accused of exploitation and inaccuracy in her portrayals of both Mexico and the migrant experience. They also pointed out that Cummins was of European heritage and had previously identified as "White." On the same day as the book's release, Oprah Winfrey announced that American Dirt would be the 83rd book chosen for Oprah's Book Club.[20][16] On January 30, 2020, Cummins' publisher, Flatiron, cancelled her planned book tour, citing fear for her safety.[21]

Cummins is a speaker with Macmillan Speakers and gives talks about victims' rights, her family's experience with the criminal justice system, and migration.[14] She is an opponent of capital punishment, and speaks about the impact of death row on victims of violent crime. She also speaks at prisons, with first responders and with students about topics such as victimology and turning trauma into art and stories.[14]

Cummins has indicated that her next book will be set in Puerto Rico.[22]

Family and heritage

Jeanine Cummins identifies as White, stating in a December 2015 New York Times opinion piece: "I still don't want to write about race. What I mean is, I really don't want to write about race...I am white."[23] Additionally, her grandmother was born and raised in Puerto Rico, and in an interview with Shelf Awareness Cummins stated: "I'm Latinx."[24] Her husband is from Ireland and was an undocumented immigrant in the US for 10 years.[25][26][27] She has two daughters and has been a foster parent.[28][27] Her cousin, Julie, inspired her to write.[10]'

Works
  • A Rip in Heaven: A Memoir of Murder and Its Aftermath (Berkley, 2004), ISBN 978-0451210531
  • The Outside Boy (Berkley, 2010), ISBN 978-0451229489
  • The Crooked Branch (Berkley, 2013), ISBN 978-0451239242
  • American Dirt (Flatiron, 2020), ISBN 978-1250209764
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References
  1. Alter, Alexandra (2020-01-13). "Writing About the Border Crisis, Hoping to Break Down Walls". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
  2. "Jeanine Cummins | Penguin Random House". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  3. "Jeanine Cummins's New Novel Is A Harrowing Immigrant's Tale". www.publishersweekly.com. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
  4. Armus, Teo (January 23, 2020). "'American Dirt' is a novel about Mexicans by a writer who isn't. For some, that's a problem". Washington Post. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
  5. "Shelf Awareness for Readers for Tuesday, January 21, 2020". www.shelf-awareness.com. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  6. Lee, Jenny (2020-01-29). "American Dirt author Jeanine Cummins on migration, the backlash against her book, and bad poetry in a Belfast bar". The Irish News. Retrieved 2020-01-30.
  7. BookBrowse. "Jeanine Cummins author biography". BookBrowse.com. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  8. Eds, The (2013-03-18). "Baltimore Fishbowl | The Ivy Bookshop Brings Jeanine Cummins, author of "The Crooked Branch" -". Baltimore Fishbowl. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  9. Cummins, Jeanine (2015-12-31). "Opinion | Murder Isn't Black or White". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-01-10.
  10. McCauley, Mary Carole (2013-03-18). "Gaithersburg author writes 'The Crooked Branch' about the Irish potato famine". Baltimore Sun.
  11. "-". 2011-11-14. Archived from the original on 2011-11-14. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
  12. Cummins, Jeanine (2018-06-19). "Opinion | 'If It Could Happen to Them, Why Can't It Happen to Us?'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
  13. Beckerman, Hannah (2020-01-06). "American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins review – panic and pathos on the run from the cartel". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 2020-01-10.
  14. "Jeanine Cummins". Macmillan Speakers Bureau. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  15. "Book Deals: Week of May 28, 2018". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  16. Alter, Alexandra (2020-01-13). "Writing About the Border Crisis, Hoping to Break Down Walls". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  17. Hampton, Rachelle (2020-01-21). "Why Everyone's Angry About American Dirt". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  18. "Pendeja, You Ain't Steinbeck: My Bronca with Fake-Ass Social Justice Literature". Tropics of Meta. 2019-12-12. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  19. "Latinx Critics Speak Out Against 'American Dirt'; Jeanine Cummins Responds". NPR.org. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  20. Haber, Leigh (2020-01-21). "Oprah Announces New Oprah's Book Club Pick: American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins". Oprah Magazine. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
  21. Asmelash, Leah (2020-01-30). "The author tour for the controversial book 'American Dirt' has been canceled over safety concerns". CNN. Retrieved 2020-01-30.
  22. "Jeanine Cummins's New Novel Is a Harrowing Immigrant's Tale". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  23. Cummins, Jeanine (2015-12-31). "Opinion | Murder Isn't Black or White". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-02-27.
  24. Cummins, Jeanine. "Wednesday, August 21, 2019: Maximum Shelf: American Dirt". www.shelf-awareness.com. Retrieved 2020-02-27.
  25. Mancusi, Nicholas (2020-01-16). "Review: Jeanine Cummins' 'American Dirt' Is a Harrowing Tale of Immigration, Family and Memory". Time. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  26. Lim, Carissa-Jan (2020-01-22). "There's A Lot Of Controversy Around The New Novel 'American Dirt.' Here's Everything You Need To Know About It". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  27. Presented by Lea, Richard; Claire Armitstead; Sian Cain (2020-01-22). "Jeanine Cummins on her explosive new novel, American Dirt". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-01-26.
  28. "American Dirt author Jeanine Cummins - border crisis". RNZ. 2020-01-29. Retrieved 2020-01-29.
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