New on newsstands

The last time I remember death threats against an author was three decades ago. In 1989, Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa against Salman Rushdie for writing "The Satanic Verses."  (Rushdie remains alive and well but that book's Japanese translator was murdered.)

Now, another author is been hiding after death threats.

Jeanine Cummins' book tour for "American Dirt" was canceled due to "specific threats to booksellers and the author." 

Why has this novelist whose thriller was an Oprah Book Club Pick been targeted for her work? 

That's the subject of my deep-dive cover story this week for Monitor Weekly magazine. 

It's a story about the "woke" social justice movement, old hierarchies in the publishing industry, and the further encroachment of cultural appropriation claims into the realm of fiction. (A shorter version is available online here.)