The Ugly American
4 June 2019
Territory Rights — Worldwide including Canada, but excluding the British Commonwealth.
Description
The multi-million-copy bestseller that blends truth and fiction in a “devastating indictment of American policy” (New York Times Book Review).
A piercing exposé of American incompetence and corruption in Southeast Asia, The Ugly American captivated the nation when it was first published in 1958. The book introduces readers to an unlikely hero in the titular “ugly American”—and to the ignorant politicians and arrogant ambassadors who ignore his empathetic and commonsense advice. In linked stories and vignettes set in the fictional nation of Sarkhan, William J. Lederer and Eugene Burdick draw an incisive portrait of American foreign policy gone dangerously wrong—and how it might be fixed.
Eerily relevant sixty years after its initial publication, The Ugly American reminds us that “today, as the battle for hearts and minds has shifted to the Middle East, we still can’t speak Sarkhanese” (New York Times).
Reviews
"Slashing.… Draw[s] the reader into a vital subject rarely treated by fiction." — Time
"A powerful, searching book." — Los Angeles Times
Also By: Eugene Burdick 
The Deceptive American
Paperback, 2007
In 1965, the authors of The Ugly American published the novel Sarkhan, a book which they felt had an even more dramatic message than their great best-seller. Sarkhan was greeted with high praise,...
Also By: William J. Lederer
Our Own Worst Enemy
Paperback, 1968
The Deceptive American
Paperback, 2007
In 1965, the authors of The Ugly American published the novel Sarkhan, a book which they felt had an even more dramatic message than their great best-seller. Sarkhan was greeted with high praise,...
I, Giorghos: A Novel
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The Mirages of Marriage
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“We believe that husband and wife in a discordant marriage can do the greater part of the healing and growing for themselves. There is no doctor or counselor who can—for any amount of money—give ‘...
Creating a Good Relationship
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