Maureen Callahan

Oprah caught some shit from the culture.

I couldn't tell you where it came from.

It was just this overwhelming hive mind groupthink that a white woman had no business writing a book about Mexican people.

And Oprah canceled the book and Janine's publisher canceled the book.

And weirdly, this weekend, I was just talking to a friend of mine who said, oh, are you reading anything good lately?

I said, I'm reading this.

I'm reading that.

What are you reading?

She goes, American Dirt.

And I love it.

You know, it's such a shame because this is completely antithetical to what fiction writing is, even nonfiction writing.

I mean, as a nonfiction author, I would say this.

Your job is to get in the head and the hearts of your characters.

That's it.

And it's a humanist enterprise.

It's not one that should be restricted by one's race, class, gender, the time in which they live.

Otherwise, we would have, Adam, zero art.

There's also something happening that really only is talked about within the circle of people who it really affects.

And that is that since all of this lunacy began, if you are a straight white male, good luck selling your book.

There are a million other authors ahead of you who based solely on identity, not on the quality of their work, are gonna get a book deal before you will.