Tour for controversial novel American Dirt cancelled

The publisher of Jeanine Cummins' controversial novel American Dirthas cancelled the remainder of her promotional tour, citing concerns for her safety.

The novelabout a Mexican mother and her young son fleeing to the U.S. border had been praised widely before its Jan. 21 release, and was chosen by Oprah Winfrey for her book club. But some readers Mexican American writers andactivists among them strongly criticizedAmerican Dirtas an inaccurate depiction of the migrant experience, told by a person of a different heritage.

Cummins herself is of Irish and Puerto Rican background.

"Jeanine Cummins spent five years of her life writing this book with the intent to shine a spotlight on tragedies facing immigrants," Bob Miller, president and publisher of Flatiron Books, said in a statement Wednesday. "We are saddened that a work of fiction that was well-intentioned has led to such vitriolic rancour."

"Unfortunately, our concerns about safety have led us to the difficult decision to cancel the book tour."

Cummins, 45, made a handful of promotional appearances since her book was released, but over the past few days the St. Louis-based Left Bank Books had called off an event and Flatiron cancelled interviews in a pair of California stores. The tour for her heavily promoted book had been scheduled to last at least through mid-February, with planned stops everywhere from Seattle to Oxford, Miss.

Despite the criticism, Cummins' novel continued todo well,and was No. 8 on the Amazon.com bestseller list at the time Flatiron announced the tour was being cut short.

Cummins to be interviewed by Oprah

Cummins does have at least one major interview coming up. On Wednesday, a spokesperson for Winfrey confirmed that Winfrey will meet with the author next month and that the discussion will air in March on Apple TV Plus. American Dirtwas the third book picked by Winfrey since she began a partnership with Apple last year.

Winfrey first chose American Dirtlast fall, before any criticism had emerged, and acknowledged in a pre-publication interview with The Associated Press that she was unaware of any controversy. She since posted a video on Instagram, saying that she had been following the debate and hoped for a broad discussion.

"I've spent the past few days listening to members of the Latinx community to get a greater understanding of their concerns, and I hear them. I do," Winfrey said in the video. "What I want to do is bring people together from all sides to talk about this book."