american dirt (oprah's book club): a novel  <p><b>#1 <i>new york times</i> bestseller</b> <br /><b>oprah’s book club pick</b><br /><br />“<b>extraordinary</b>.”<br />—<b>stephen king</b><br /><br /><b>“this book is not simply the great american novel; it’s the great novel of <i>las americas</i>. it’s the great world novel! this is the international story of our times. masterful.”<br />—sandra cisneros<br /><br /></b><b><i>también de este lado hay sueños. </i></b><b>on this side, too, there are dreams<i>.</i></b><br /><br />lydia quixano pérez lives in the mexican city of acapulco. she runs a bookstore. she has a son, luca, the love of her life, and a wonderful husband who is a journalist. and while there are cracks beginning to show in acapulco because of the drug cartels, her life is, by and large, fairly comfortable.<br /><br />even though she knows they’ll never sell, lydia stocks some of her all-time favorite books in her store. and then one day a man enters the shop to browse and comes up to the register with a few books he would like to buy—two of them her favorites. javier is erudite. he is charming. and, unbeknownst to lydia, he is the <i>jefe</i> of the newest drug cartel that has gruesomely taken over the city. when lydia’s husband’s tell-all profile of javier is published, none of their lives will ever be the same.<br /><br />forced to flee, lydia and eight-year-old luca soon find themselves riding <i>la bestia</i>—trains that make their way north toward the united states, which is the only place javier’s reach doesn’t extend. as they join the countless people trying to reach <i>el norte</i>, lydia soon sees that everyone is running from something. but what exactly are they running to? <br /><br /> <i>american dirt</i> will leave readers utterly changed. it is a literary achievement filled with poignancy, drama, and humanity on every page. it is one of the most important books for our times.<br /><br />already being hailed as "a <i>grapes of wrath</i> for our times" and "a new american classic," jeanine cummins&apos;s <i>american dirt</i> is a rare exploration into the inner hearts of people willing to sacrifice everything for a glimmer of hope.</p>