American Dirt

Synopsis: Lydia Perez is living my fantasy life of being the owner of a small bookstore in the seaside tourist town of Acapulco. She seems to have a picture perfect life with a loving husband who is a journalist for the local paper, her eight year old son Luca, and extended family nearby. She develops a friendship with one of her customers, Javier. His erudite, charming exterior hides the reality of his life as the chief of the local drug cartel. When Lydia’s husband writes a tell all profile of Javier for the paper, life takes a dramatic turn, with Lydia and Luca forced to flee their home. She decides that their only hope for escape from the retribution of the cartel is to travel as quickly and surreptitiously as possible to the United States.

Review: This book certainly generated a lot of buzz! The pre-publication phase saw publishers vying for the rights to this novel, and was highly anticipated. It was an Oprah pick for her book club, for heaven’s sake. Then the push back started….. LOTS of folks weighing in on whether this particular author should be the one to tell this particular story. For a lot of people, the idea of a white author writing this novel felt inauthentic, culturally insensitive, and wrong. Finally, I wanted to see what all the controversy was about! If the worst thing that can be said about the book is that the author is not brown enough? I agree that the lack of diversity in publishing is appalling, but I can’t embrace the idea that authors are limited to topics defined by their nationality or ethnicity. So, was it a good book? On the whole, I enjoyed it. The fear, desperation and danger were palpable. By turns, heart breaking and heart warming. I might find a little fault in some of the characters, which were a bit too Hollywood for me. The drug lord villain was sophisticated to the point of parody. Still, I’ll recommend it.

Rating: 4/5

Recipe: Chicken “Enchiladas”

OK. These are not authentic in any way shape or form. Very much a Paula Deenification of the traditional chicken enchilada. So in that sense, maybe a good accompaniment to this book? I am reasonably certain that in Mexico they would be baffled by the use of cream cheese, heavy cream or Greek seasoning. Still, I’m going to say I think they are delicious, even if not authentic.

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 tablespoon Greek seasoning blend

1 t olive oil

1/2 cup diced onion

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened

1 four oz can diced green chiles

16 oz shredded Montery Jack cheese

2 10 oz cans green enchilada sauce

16 8 inch white corn tortillas

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Poach the chicken with greek seasoning and when cool, shred to make about 3 cups. Or use a rotisseries chicken, who’s to know?

2) Het oil in a medium skillet over medium high heat. Sauce onion and cumin until tender, about two minutes.

3) combine the shredded chicken, onion mixture, cream cheese and chiles, 3 cups of chicken and 1 can of enchilada sauce in a large bowl. Mix well. Place e about 1/3 cup chicken mixture in each tortilla, and roll up. Place filled tortillas, seam side down, in a 13 x 9 baking dish. Pour remaining c an of enchilada sauce over the tortillas and top with heavy cream. Sprinkle with the remaining 1 cup of shredded cheese. Bake until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbly, 35-40 minutes.