With starred reviews from Kirkus, Library Journal, and Booklist, Kim Ghattas’ latest book of nonfiction The Best Kind of American: A True Story of Murder, War, and America’s Undoing in the Middle East (Henry Holt and Co.) is on sale October 13, 2026.
About the Book
On January 18, 1984, Malcolm Kerr, president of the American University of Beirut, was assassinated by a pair of gunmen outside his office. His murder, in the wake of the bombing of the US Marines’ barracks, Palestinian guerrilla warfare, and the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, was just one more shocking headline in a city ravaged by the chaos of nine years of war. There was no investigation. Four decades later, the question of who killed Malcolm, and why, is still not fully resolved.
In The Best Kind of American, Kim Ghattas embarks on a quest to shed new light on Kerr’s forgotten assassination, weaving together the family’s story with that of Lebanon’s warlords and peacemakers, Hezbollah hostage takers and Iranian Revolutionary Guards, and American presidents from Reagan to Trump. She also tells the definitive story of how Beirut came to be the point of origin for the policies and people who went on to shape the Middle East for decades, from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was then assassinated in a joint US-Israeli strike in the opening salvo of their 2026 war against the Islamic Republic. With the nuance, clarity, and storytelling that made Black Wave an era-defining work on the Middle East, Ghattas delivers a riveting, deeply human saga—a must-read for understanding why this conflict continues to shape today’s world.
Praise for the Book
“Damning history of American bumbling in the Middle East . . . [a] wide-ranging narrative . . . of great importance to anyone seeking a clear view of a bewildering geopolitical arena.”
—Kirkus (*STARRED REVIEW*)
”Highly recommended. Ghattas’s forensic reconstruction of the origin of U.S.-Iran-Israel enmity details personalities, interactions, events, and decisions that carry forward to 2025, offering readers a nuanced and timely backstory of the 2026 war in Iran.”
—Library Journal (*STARRED REVIEW*)
“Ghattas’ account will resonate today as Israel, Iran, and the United States raise their global hostilities even higher.”
—Booklist (*STARRED REVIEW*)