Synopses & Reviews
First published in 1958, The Ugly American became a runaway national bestseller for its slashing exposé of American arrogance, incompetence, and corruption in Southeast Asia. Based on fact, the book's eye-opening stories and sketches drew a devastating picture of how the United States was losing the struggle with Communism in Asia. Combining gripping storytelling with an urgent call to action, the book prompted President Eisenhower to launch a study of our military aid program that led the way to much-needed reform. "Powerful and absorbing. . . . Should be required reading in Washington."--Kirkus Reviews "Not only important but consistently entertaining. . . . The attack on American policy in Asia this book makes is clothed in sharp characterizations, frequently humorous incident, and perceptive descriptions of the countries and people where the action occurs."-Robert Trumbull, former chief correspondent for the New York Times in China and Southeast Asia "Seldom has a deadly warning been more entertainingly or convincingly given."--Washington Star
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"A very important bombshell." New York Herald Tribune
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"Not only important but consistently entertaining." New York Times
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"Slashing.... Draw[s] the reader into a vital subject rarely treated by fiction." Time
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"[A] powerful and absorbing indictment.... Should be required reading in Washington and elsewhere." Kirkus Reviews
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"To make use of the truth, unbelievable truth... William J. Lederer and Eugene Burdick wrote this devastating indictment of American policy [in Southeast Asia] as fiction. But any correspondent who has been any length of time in the locale of the story will recognize its veracity." Robert Trumbull
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"A delightfully readable book." New York Times Book Review
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"Both enlightening and absorbing reading, with humor and wit." James A. Michener
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"A powerful, searching book." Boston Herald
Synopsis
The multi-million-copy bestseller that coined the phrase for tragic American blunders abroad.
Synopsis
In the episode that lends the book its title, the "ugly American" is Homer Atkins, a plain and plain-spoken man, who has been sent by the U.S. government to advise the Southeast Asian country of Sarkhan on engineering projects. When Atkins finds badly misplaced priorities and bluntly challenges the entrenched interests, he lays bare a foreign policy gone dangerously wrong.
About the Author
Eugene Burdick's other books include Fail-Safe.William J. Lederer (1912-2009) was the co-author of The Ugly American (with Eugene Burdick), The Mirages of Marriage (with Don D. Jackson) and other books.