The Ugly American [Paperback]

Eugene Burdick (Author), William J. Lederer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1999

The multi-million-copy bestseller that coined the phrase for tragic American blunders abroad.

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

Editorial Reviews

Review

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

Powerful and absorbing. . . . Should be required reading in Washington. -- Kirkus Reviews

Seldom has a deadly warning been more entertainingly or convincingly given. -- Washington Star

From the Inside Flap

If This Were Not A Free Country, This Book Would Be Banned.

Authentic, infuriating, and explosively candid, this is the daring, classic bestseller that unmasked the blundering hypocrisy of some of our top-level diplomats. It exposes the opportunism, incompetence, and cynical deceit that have become imbedded in the fabric of our public relations, not only in Asia but all over the world. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (January 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393318672
• ISBN-13: 978-0393318678
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #25,765 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining, timely, and scathing critique, December 17, 2003

By 

Max J Rosenthal (DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ugly American (Paperback)

The Ugly American succeeds on three major counts:
1) The book is a devastating look at the way the American diplomatic corps presents itself abroad. It may have been written decades ago, but given recent events and little evidence that anything has changed in the State Department, the lessons are still extremely applicable to this day. Every foreign service officer should read this as a manual on how to conduct themselves and adapt to foreign cultures.
2) The authors are clearly cutting into American policy without going overboard and cutting into the United States. This is no anti-American rant; Lederer and Burdick seem to write this book with one eye firmly on furthering America's ability to advance its interests and cooperate more effectively with other nations.
3) Each one of the short stories is extremely entertaining. I started this book at 10 pm one night and finished it three hours later after being totally unable to put it down. On top of its commentary, it's a quick and fascinating read.

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Getting it right!, March 30, 2003

By 

Jim Bernhardt (Arlington, VA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ugly American (Paperback)

The Ugly American was published in 1958, just after the Soviets put Sputnik in orbit and sent America into a deep funk. The book is as interesting for its idealized picture of communist accomplishments in foreign relations as it is for the dreary picture of Americans abroad. The authors attribute high quality training and patient well thought out policies to the Soviets. The American don't speak the language. The Americans don't understand the culture. The Americans are incapable of winning hearts or helping people. That was the mood in 1958. The Soviets had won the race to space and caused us as a nation to doubt our system of education, our ability to understand the world, and our instruments of diplomacy. The people working for the State Department in this book spend most of their time taking care of themselves (first class all the way), and the rest taking care of visitors from Washington (BS all the way). Now, in the post 9/11 world, the Ugly American is worth a fresh look. Are we going to do as poor a job in the Arab world as we did in Southeast Asia nearly 50 years ago. Do we speak Arabic? Are we spending the time and effort learning about the culture, needs and dreams of the people in that part of the world. Is there a hope we can get it right this time? The Ugly American is an important book for us now.

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy to read - almost impossible to forget., July 12, 2000

By 

"johninjapan" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ugly American (Paperback)

The Ugly American is a collection of about 20 fictional short stories based in Asia after World War II, when communism was a gaining momentum in the region. The stories, however, are based on factual experiences of the authors in South East-Asia and some of the characters are also based on real people.

Each tale is an enchanting story. The characterization is wonderful and the lessons of cultural sensitivity - or lack of it - are valuable. You could also use parts of the book as anecdotes for teaching leadership, but it is not a textbook; read it to enjoy it and you can have the "food for thought" as a bonus. Americans should not be put off by the title as the main character is far from ugly and people from other nations are also shown to be "ugly", for example, some of the French in Vietnam. Also, as the authors are American, they did not intend the title to be a slur.

Trivia FYI: Universal made a movie from the book, staring Marlon Brando, in the 1960s.