The Ugly American

Although written in 1958, the lessons extolled in this easy-to-read collection of stories remain relevant today. I lived in Panama for over three years and witnessed many of the characters and policies discussed within this book. It amazes me how little U.S. policy and influence have changed since then. We need to get beyond what J. William Fulbright termed �The Arrogance of Power� and engage the world at a more fundamental level. As the authors make the case for, America has a tremendous amount of genuine, caring individuals that can help have an impact in regions of need. However, we must be willing to learn and understand the cultures we attempt to assist.
As members of the military, my wife and I have always chosen to live on the economy and �experience� the culture of a foreign country. All too often, however, the majority of military members chose to huddle around base PX�s and commissaries. Beyond that, many people would complain about not having anything to do in a country where dining, SCUBA diving and just plain enjoying your own island for the weekend are dirt-cheap. Often, I heard people exclaim that they couldn�t wait to get back to the states to eat at Taco Bell or to go to the mall. America has a tremendous amount of culture and things to enjoy, but somehow Taco Bell and the mall shouldn�t make it to the top of our priorities. Don�t let the book�s title insinuate an attack against Americans, though. Many of the characters, French, Russian, and Asian also display some less-than-virtuous traits. The authors make the point and believe in many of the moral qualities that our society attempts to export, despite the fact that they candidly assail the methods we employ.
The Ugly American is a great book to read prior to traveling. It will help open your eyes to how other cultures view the U.S. and make you sensitive to those perceptions. All Americans are ambassadors of our culture. Use this book as a good guide about how to represent our culture in a positive light. A quick, humorous read, I highly recommend The Ugly American to anyone visiting or living abroad.

As so many other reviewers have pointed out, the title of this book is truly a dichotomy. On the one hand, there are "ugly Americans" who APPEAR beautiful (showy, party givers who impress their superiors but disgust the locals). On the other hand there is an "ugly American" (physically) who is beautiful on the inside because he truly cares about helping the local people but who does NOT appeal to the local US Foreign Service office.
Using a term popular in today's vernacular, the Foreign Service officers (Ambassadors and their staff) in this book try to "assimilate" rather than "assist" the local culture. The one time when an Ambassador actually is heading in the right direction, he gets yanked out of his position because he is not "toeing the party line." Typical government insanity.
For those of you in Foreign Service (or any other public service) whose careers are about substance not SHOW, I apologize. I know you are out there and I admire your dedication. However, I am sure you have run across more than your fair share of "ugly Americans" that "look good" during your career. I know I did and that is why I left government service (rather not expound on which branch of service.)
Please don't misunderstand me. I love the USA. Most "REGULAR" people are like the one "ugly American" who really cares. But many (NOT ALL) people we send overseas as our representatives are far too often oblivious as to how they come across to the people in that culture. The lack of preparation is somewhat their fault but mostly the fault of the top officials who select them based on SHOW rather than substance.
Anyone in the federal government listening? This book needs to be on the "required reading" list for anyone attempting to get into Foreign Service, regardless of what point in their careers the applicants are at, whether it be right-out-of-college or 30-years-of-experience. For those who are already in Foreign Service, they should be required to read it within the next 3 months (only takes one or two hours a day for a week, or less) or risk losing their position.

The title refers to an individual in the book but I do think there is an insinuation in the title. This is a brilliant book that said so much then in 1958, and says so much now today. The implicit references are strikingly clear in the characters and situations presented by Lederer and Burdick. When abroad our American psyche, consciousness, and sub-conscious attitudes and assumptions, have not changed since this book was written. We are culturally, mentally, and linguistically isolated, and do not attempt to learn about other cultural norms for a variety of reasons. Still today, the term "Ugly American" caricatures this ignorance & arrogance by those who live behind the "Golden Curtain" (USA). The authors also had the gift of saying a lot with few words. Few can do this. This is also a piece of work filled with humor. Many times I chuckled aloud while reading this book. I do believe that almost all aspects of Communism are evil and believed in the "intelligent" opposition to the Maoist and Leninist movements of the 20th Century and today. Communism gains, and maintains strength and control, by the theft of an individual's heart, mind, and soul. As for U.S. foreign policy in S.E Asia to counter the spread of Communism, it was was a debacle based upon arrogance and ignorance by politicians and military bureaucrats. A deadly and futile combination. The U.S. foreign policy effort in S.E. Asia was the blind leading the blind, culturally, militarily, and politically, and the result was our soldiers and innocent Asian citizens losing life and limb. Lederer and Burdick realized this at the time of writing in 1958--before the tumultuous times of Vietnam. It's a shame more influential bureaucrats didnt' read it. This book is a must read for Americans who will be traveling or living abroad for more than a short period of time. But also A classic however, for all Americans, whether at home or abroad.

"The Ugly American" was originally written as a series of non-fiction studies of Americans in Southeast Asia. I wish it had remained that way. The publisher, WW Norton, convinced the authors to re-write the studies as fiction so they wouldn't get sued for libel. This resulted in a messy book with no plot, no narrative, too many characters, and no running theme except that Americans overseas are stupid, and they must be slightly less stupid if they expect to win the Cold War with the Communists. The ostensible "heroes" of the book, Ambassador MacWhite and engineer Homer Atkins, don't appear until midway through the book or toward the end. A skilled rewrite of the original non-fiction book would have introduced them early in the book, have them reappear throughout, and then close with them.

After 240 pages, the authors think they make a serious point during the epilogue: Americans overseas have to learn the native languages if they expect to understand the culture, and win that culture's respect. It shows just how pathetic American foreign policy was/is that (a) they thought that this utterly obvious idea required a book, and (b) this idea would be controversial, and (c) they thought this was the main thing it would take to win the Cold War in Southeast Asia. No wonder the Communists won.

The theme of "White Man's Burden" is not explicit here, but is nonetheless present. The "good" Americans in Sarkhan learn the language but that's as far as they go -- they are not there to assimilate, convert to the local religion, send their children to local schools, etc.; instead they show by example how superior they are, and how the Sarkhanese should adopt their advanced Western ways. The authors sincerely appear to believe that if there were more people like Homer Atkins in the rural areas, why, the Sarkhans would realize how superior "Western" ideas were to the Communists. Which means that they were just as naive as the "bad" Americans they present in the book.

"The Ugly American" was a best-seller because it superficially criticizes US foreign policy in Southeast Asia without raising the hard questions, or examining the cultural assumptions, that actually needed to be addressed. A book *truly* critical of the Military-Industrial Complex, the philosophy of American Exceptionalism, the navel-gazing nature and cultural isolation of Americans, and the shadow of the White Man's Burden would not have been published at the time. The book inspired JFK to start the Peace Corps, but it otherwise had no effect whatsoever on real US foreign policy in Southeast Asia. And we all know how that turned out.

PS - the movie from 1964 has nothing to do with the book. The screenplay retained a few characters, but wrote an entirely different story, one that actually had a plot.

I first encountered this book as part of an undergraduate political science class on American politics. Among other long and dry reading assignments, I found myself thoroughly engaged in the book and looking forward to spending time reading Lederer and Burdick's work. In fact, I'd have to say that it has been my favorite book since that political science class almost 25 years ago.

I have read it at least 20 times in those 25 years (often as a source for a paper I was writing, but also for pleasure). While this is not a typical "beach read" I have re-read it while traveling and at the beach on several occasions. This past week I was on a business trip and sleeping in a hotel room. This combination of factors is usually good for a bout of insomnia on my part, and this trip was no different. Lederer and Burdick came to my rescue yet again and provided a thoroughly enjoyable way to pass through several hours of insomnia.

The story(ies) centers on a fictional country in Southeast Asia named Sarkhan. The book's chapters compare and contrast the competence and incompetence on the part of the diplomats, politicos, military officers and ex-pats in Sarkham. Heroes include Ambassador Gilbert McWhite, John Colvin, and Homer Atkins (THE ugly American) --- all men who took the time to learn the culture in which they were being planted.

It is easy (now, with 20/20 hindsight) to see this book as a parable stemming from the Vietnam War. However, the book was written well before American stepped up its involvement in Vietnam (in 1958) and was purportedly read by President Eisenhower and responsible for many of the reforms that he introduced into America's foreign aid programs. The general thesis of the authors was that US diplomats (and other foreign station workers/advisors) who failed to study and adapt to the cultures they were entering, were doomed to failure (or worse). Worse still, the American bureaucracy wasn't interested in the opinions of the Foreign Service staff that did study and understand the cultures into which they were placed.

Given that this book was written at the tail end of the McCarthy era, the insights of Lederer and Burdick are quite exceptional (if fact, some government agencies sought to ban the book in Asia and in many ways that (failed) effort can be seen as one of the last "scenes" of the McCarthy era). Burdick and Lederer are at once, tongue in cheek, cynical and satirical in their views of American foreign policy

Every time that I read this book, I can't put it down. Despite its age, it is still a fine read and certainly has additional significance in today's world as the U.S. fights wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Although some parts of the book are antiquated (in particular the parochial way the authors treat the few female characters (in particular the Marie MacIntosh character). However that small niggle can be forgiven to a book that retains its readability and relevance 50 years after it was first published.

I certainly enjoyed reading this book -it was well written -but have more reservations about it that many of the other reviewers. First, for full disclosure I'm not a foreign policy expert, nor have first hand experience. However:

I do feel the issue of a lack of competence is not just the sole domain of the American government; I'm sure in Soviet times there were just as many problems with incompetence that were associated with political wrangling, ignorance or egos from within the Kremlin as well, perhaps even more. Further, instead of stressing competence from competing ideologies, it seems largely forgotten that the disenfranchisement of the people with their own governments might have mattered more -and subsequently made the people more susceptible to desperately grasp one ideology or the other. In the cold war times competing ideologies appeared less concerned about the wholesome nature or "goodness" of a government, more just which way politically it was leaning (did the people really matter then? Surely not necessarily a great way to win the hearts and minds of the people of those countries anyway?).

Additionally it seems to be a common theme for countries to be negatively introspective at times -I'm from the UK where newspaper reports regularly decried the poor standard of science education in the UK as the worst of the Western countries, yet when I moved to the USA I was surprized to see a newspaper report state that American science education was the poorest of the Western countries! Moreover, I believe some of the "solutions" mentioned in the book were overly simplistic. Introducing a new breed of chicken or cow to another country can be plain disastrous as well as helpful, and certainly can have complex ramifications in an ecosystem. Surely other more complex and demanding (and perhaps necessary) solutions and questions were plainly ignored -why were people embracing communism? Were people more resentful of the colonial influences than enthusiastic about communism? How do you get the mandate of language and cultural learning implemented in the system? It's one (easy) thing to say you need to do it, it's another thing to suggest a way forward to implement this, particularly in that political environment. I know this novel doesn't necessarily cover this area, but I think it suffers from supplying solutions but not how to implement them.

Lastly, I felt the book afforded those readers who wanted to feel smugly superior ample opportunity to do so -perhaps just a little too much opportunity. Everything in hindsight is simple, particularly when it's conveyed in (what I believe) to be a simplistic manner with solutions spoon fed by chapter. The problem here is that everyone would like simple straightforward solutions; the reality is that simple straightforward solutions usually only appear to be so, particularly in the murky context of one country attempting to exercise influence over another. Regardless, I really enjoyed reading the book; a great read and a story that is sure to stir up debate and thought, which is what really good books do. I give it 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars based on these strengths, with a star removed for its lack of depth and tackling problems too simplistically.

This is a novel, but only quasi-fictional. Written in 1958, the story involves the behaviors of our U.S. foreign service diplomats in Southeast Asia. I'm sorry to say it just as well have could been written last year and applied to many in the current State Department.

As other reviewers have noted regarding The Ugly American, it is a critique of how Americans often behave (badly) abroad. TRUE. It is also a discomfitting look at how people often behave (badly) when given power and privilege. Further, it is a primer on how to generally relate with other people, at home or abroad, socially and honorably.

The authors are tough on institutionalized communism, but gentle and gracious to the people of the Third-World. Very convincing.

An interesting word-play from the book: As most boomers, I grew up applying the term "ugly American" to bad social actors abroad. Interestingly, the individual "ugly American" referred to in the novel is a saavy, wise and generous - but not physically attractive - engineer. Ironically, his industrious and giving nature (and that of his wife), actually make them the "beautiful Americans".

A smart book. One to be read by anyone interested in travel, or politics, or getting along well with other people - especially disadvantaged or different people.

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.

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.

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.

This novel was written with an explicitly political purpose--to criticise the heavy handed, inept foreign policy of the US in Asia in the 1950s, to warn that it was about to precipitate a disaster, and to offer a better alternative. The book was a huge best seller in its day--I remember copies in peoples' houses in the 1960s.
Unhappily, its sound message was ignored by those whose policies were criticised, and as a result the American people found themselves in the Vietnam War.
The novel belongs with Animal Farm and Brave New World as a work of fiction that has a primary purpose unrelated to art, but it is an engaging and entertaining novel as well.
Reading it, however, in the knowledge that its accurate and timely diagnosis of a failed policy was ignored, is a sorrowful experience.

Thought provoking novel. I enjoyed it but it constantly causes me heartburn.

The state department is NOT the "ugly American."

You need to read the book; the ugly American has his own chapter and HE IS A GOOD GUY!

There are obnoxious Americans in the book, but the actual character, "the ugly American" is a very culture conscious engineer who teams with the Sarkahnese to solve some local problems. He is an excellent model for how to do things right.

You need to read the chapters "The Ugly American" and "They Ugly American and the Ugly Sarkahnese" to understand what the authors actually said.

They call him the ugly American because his face is, well, ugly.

This is a case where the general public uses the phrase and doesn't really understand it.

As someone currently serving at a US Embassy in Asia, I found this book as an excellent (and highly accurate) appraisal of contemporary ground truth. Despite an earlier reviewer's obvious political bias, the problems outlined in the book, and that still persist today, have operated independently from the vagaries of the political choices of the US population for well over half a century. This book helped me with a framework (albeit fictional) to examine my own training, continuing education and behavior vis-a-vis the culture I am now participating in. Am I in fact an active participant or simply a passive observer? This book is a quick and thought provoking piece and should be required reading for all US personnel assigned to an overseas capacity.

The term "ugly American" gets thrown around a lot, but most people have never read the book. What surprises me is that, with our problems in Iraq and the rest of the world, every military and civilian leader is not quoting the book extensively. It is a blueprint for what went wrong in Vietnam (written before Vietnam) and now Iraq. Won't we learn?

Not great literature, but a great read. This is not a dull analysis, but a good story that moves and makes one think.

Having read "THE UGLY AMERICAN" when it first came out I was not preconditioned to that expression being paraphrased unendingly over the last 4 decades. I was preparing for a career in agriculture extension and identified with the unattractive civil engineer (the "ugly" American in the book) and his family. I appreciated Burdick's and Lederer's contrasting the civil engineer's heartwarming ways with the more typical condescending attitude of most Americans overseas, then and now, whether tourist or professional.
The Peace Corps has alleviated some of this stereotype, but unfortunately we have had patronizing Corpspeople as well.
As luck would have it, I ended up working in forestry and agricultural outside of the US. In my 25+ years in working in private as well as volunteer and governmental work in SE Asia I have always remembered the "ugly" American. Following his example, I tried to devote my efforts to not just helping and teaching local people but learning from them as well. It isn't hard and you wouldn't believe the things I have learned from illiterate but highly intelligent local farmers and forest dwellers in Borneo, Java and Malaysia.
Read it yourself, taking special note of the "ugly" American and the stereotyped "UGLY" Americans we see and hear about all the time. Which would you rather be??
It also reminds me of the shallowness of many American's reading habits when I hear the phrase "Love is not having to say you are sorry" from "Love Story". Could it also have been confused with "Love is not HAVING to say you are sorry"? (Caps are mine.) Believe me, if I have Love, I say I'm sorry because of the Love, not because I HAVE to or NOT HAVE to!
Thanks and have a good read!

Having read "THE UGLY AMERICAN" when it first came out I was not preconditioned to that expression being paraphrased unendingly over the last 4 decades. I was preparing for a career in agriculture extension and identified with the unattractive civil engineer (the "ugly" American in the book) and his family. I appreciated Burdick's and Lederer's contrasting the civil engineer's heartwarming ways with the more typical condescending attitude of most Americans overseas, then and now, whether tourist or professional.
The Peace Corps has alleviated some of this stereotype, but unfortunately we have had patronizing Corpspeople as well.
As luck would have it, I ended up working in forestry and agricultural outside of the US. In my 25+ years in working in private as well as volunteer and governmental work in SE Asia I have always remembered the "ugly" American. Following his example, I tried to devote my efforts to not just helping and teaching local people but learning from them as well. It isn't hard and you wouldn't believe the things I have learned from illiterate but highly intelligent local farmers and forest dwellers in Borneo, Java and Malaysia.
Read it yourself, taking special note of the "ugly" American and the stereotyped "UGLY" Americans we see and hear about all the time. Which would you rather be??
It also reminds me of the shallowness of many American's reading habits when I hear the phrase "Love is not having to say you are sorry" from "Love Story". Could it also have been confused with "Love is not HAVING to say you are sorry"? (Caps are mine.) Believe me, if I have Love, I say I'm sorry because of the Love, not because I HAVE to or NOT HAVE to!
Thanks and have a good read!

This was a prerequisite reading for being an exchange student, and I quickly understood why once I was overseas. This book, more than anything else, caused me to change the way I looked at another culture, and to really consider what I perceived as 'right'. It also made me acutely aware of my fellow countrymen while there, as they truly lived up to the title 'ugly American'. I then understood better the feelings foreigners have about Americans.

It makes the reader understand why our State Department has failed in most areas outside the United States. Our foreign office personnel is unprepared and insensitive to local needs. They are stationed in foreign countries and have no clue that the rest of the world is not just like the USA. They rarely make an effort to learn the local language so they miss out on what really goes on in other countries.

An oldie but a goldie that sold millions 60 years ago. The true exposure of US atrocities in Vietnam in the name of democracy. Sadly very little has changed today. The same muddle headed compunctions of the US establishment and the false beliefs foisted on the US public to continue aggression round the world in which millions must die to satisfy arms profiteering.

The Ugly American is a classic book about the manner in which the U.S. approached Vietnam in the 1950s, but could just as well refer to American involvement in the Arab world today. Burdick and Lederer tell several satirical and easy-to-read stories capturing the arrogance, ignorance, and cultural insensitivity which too often mark the image of America abroad. The authors' impatient call for a reexamination of American methods continue to resonate, and their recommendations are no less virtuous today. Anyone with an interest in U.S. foreign policy, history, or the Vietnam era will find The Ugly American a delightful read.

This book here is required reading for all United States Marines serving in diplomatic assignments overseas and I must say it was fantastic. Personally I do not consider myself a reader but the first chapter just sucks you in. I read the book in two days which is fast for me, so that's saying a lot. It paints a beautiful picture of all the things that are wrong with the American foreign service and by the time you are finish reading it you begin to analyze yourself to ensure you are not or do not become the "Ugly American."

To paraphrase, someone said, "There is little good in giving someone fish, if you do not teach him HOW to fish".
The Ugly American helped by teaching people HOW. As did his wife.
The book is a beautiful story of an "ugly" person with a wonderful, giving heart.
It is unfortunate that certain people use the term "ugly american" as a way of degrading America and Americans.
I am reordering the book to reread it - then pass it on to a friend who likes to use the term "Ugly American" with no knowledge of it's meaning.
J.C. Caruthers

The Ugly American is a must read for anyone travelling outside of the USA. It perfectly epitomizes most american's attitudes toward cultures and lifestyles not their own. This book shows how americans are the most generous and genial people in the world and at the same time highlights some of the mistakes we as a people and a country make when abroad. The Ugly American inspires us all to travel and ensure that our reputation becomes polished and not tarnished.

Every tourist, missionary, and peace corps worker ought to be forced to read this book. It brings the reality of life in poor countries into glaring focus and shames the leadership of this country for its moral and political failures.

It has become increasingly fashionable
For Americans to hate America. There is nothing new in this. The vitriol in this hatred is over whelming. There is a complete lack of interest in a solution for this perceived problem. The only alternative is seen to be to destroy the country and dance on the ashes. Here it becomes clear that the issue has nothing to do with country. This is a human hatred projected out on any desired target. Very sick people, very dangerous people.

First read "The Ugly American" in 1958. Just finished the 1999 reprint and found it to be just as revelent today as it was nearly 50 years ago. The foreign policy of America has not changed much over the past half century. If only our policy makers would take time to understand what the authors were telling us, the world situation may be better off.

Naive by today's standards but nevertheless a poignant read in the context of the April 2003 American/UK/Iraq conflict. While Eisenhower is said to have been profoundly taken with this book thus effecting changes in policy abroad, in all the years since 1958, continued U.S. geopolitical tamperings and arrogance have resulted in the loss of millions of lives.

Southerners in what's now termed "The New South" (and many of whom never have traveled much, having to work for a living and not being able to afford it) will find this very helpful. In places s/a Southern Florida, Central North carolina, the big "new south" cities of Atlanta, memphis, etc., where millions of Northeast people pored in after 9-11, hoping to find a "less violent home" among the very people often vilified in the movies, books and film they produced in the Northeast (putting southerners down as rednecks, etc., like the movie Deliverance). This is especially true when many Northeast public employees (the military described here, the public school servants, and so on settle on dispossessed farmlands (where the Southern farm land was redistributed for use of Northeast public employees).

The "Ugly American" is an American that treats other Americans in exactly the same ways described in this book. On the other hand, it's nearly as rude to try to "Ingratiate yourself with the local culture" (FOR WHATEVER your real agenda---this is just usury.) Many "Ugly Americans" in the "New south" do that also. Rather than end their vilification practices (liek in movies s/a Deliverance), they want to know "the local customs" (as if people who live in a place should drop everything and show them how to clean, grow things, bake, do various folkways things, etc.

the Ugly American will never understand that usury is seen as awful by many people. No one likes their "developments," and in trying to transform peoples it is a disrespect in itself, the endless "missions" that are done to others---- AND SO FREQUENTLY, the entire obscuring of how they benefit financially from these "missions."

For anyone experiencing the invasion of all the pre-fab "Ave Maria" towns and neo-Levittowns and Arthurdale strip malls and gum cracking 'gotta get, get, get' of northeast people (whose only life influence seems to be small apartments and a mind created by television shows) THIS IS A MUST READ.

There is a reason why Army Special Forces (which usually spends 6 months out of every year deployed to foreign states) requires that all of its soldiers read and live by this book. Look at this book as a shining example of what not to do.