The Ugly American

The Ugly American is a novel by William Lederer and Eugene Burdick. Published in 1958, the book is a venomous satire of America’s presence in Southeast Asia three years into the Vietnam War. While the book is categorized as a novel, it is an overt political commentary that is presented in the form of chapters that could be considered standalone short stories. The title refers to the stereotypical American insensitivity to the native language, customs, traditions, religions, and background of the people of Sarkhan, the fictional country in which the novel is set. The Ugly American is a notable work of anti-war commentary, taking its place among novels like Catch-22 and Slaughterhouse-Five. 

The novel hosts a large cast of characters. Many of them receive their own story but make minor reappearances in the stories of the other characters. As the novel begins, the US government has appointed Louis Sears as the American Ambassador to Sarkhan. Sears has no interest in learning the language or culture of the Sarkhanese. His political and diplomatic blundering do so much to alienate the natives that the Russians consider him an asset, and they view his presence in Sarkhan as an anti-capitalist advertisement. 

The second story introduces the Russian Ambassador Louis Krupitzyn. Krupitzyn is a formidable tactician and devoted Communist. He is an expert in Sarkhanese politics and speaks Sarkhanese fluently. He is the opposite of Sears, and his efforts are effective, where Sears’s are inept. 

An anti-Communist Catholic priest named Father Finian begins an anti-Communist campaign in nearby Burma. After recruiting nine local Catholics who are also anti-Communist, he begins running a campaign through a small newspaper that he begins to publish. Each issue purports to be pro-Communist and features articles written by eminent Communists such as Lenin and Marx. The paper is read by peasants; the articles by the Communists often mock the peasantry and justify their slaughter, which leads to dissent in the villages where Finian’s group works. 

A competent man named Gilbert MacWhite replaces Sears. MacWhite learns fluent Sarkhanese and is committed to the fight against Communism. When he learns that his servants—who pretend to speak no English—have been spying on him and passing secrets to the Communists, he admits his error and travels through Southeast Asia, hoping to find new ideas to use in the conflict. During his travel, he hears of a musician called “the Ragtime Kid”—an almost mythical figure who can win over any Sarkhanese person by admiring and participating in their culture. 

The rest of the novel shows these and other characters overlapping in their stories as they attempt—and mostly fail—to fight Communism. Many of them spend as much time covering up their own blunders and trying to save their careers. When the novel ends, MacWhite is being replaced by Joe Bing, a fast-talking politician who cares about little besides his own image and self-enrichment. MacWhite writes to government officials in Washington, listing several strategies that he believes would improve the relations between Asia and America. He also maintains that Russia will win the Cold War if the US government does not take his recommendations seriously. Although the stories in the book have shown that his solutions could work, the US rejects his proposals and enforces his return to America.