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Magic City Books is pleased to partner with the Tulsa Committee on Foreign Relations to present an event with Kim Ghattas to celebrate the release of her latest book, The Best Kind of American. This free, in-store event will take place at Magic City Books, 221 E. Archer St. in the Tulsa Arts District on Sunday, November 8, 2026 at 2:00pm."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)
The Best Kind of American released on October 13, 2026. You can purchase copies through Magic City Books ahead of time or at the event.
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.
About the Author
Kim Ghattas is a Middle East expert, author, and Emmy-award-winning journalist. She’s a contributing writer for The Atlantic magazine, a contributing editor for The Financial Times, and a regular guest on CNN, MSNBC, and NPR. She was a Distinguished Inaugural Fellow at the Columbia University Institute for Global Politics. She previously reported for the BBC from the Middle East and Washington, DC. She is the author of Black Wave, a New York Times notable book on the Saudi-Iran rivalry, and of The Secretary: A Journey with Hillary Clinton from Beirut to the Heart of American Power, a New York Times bestseller. She splits her time between her hometown in Beirut and writing desks around the world.
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Event venue
Magic City Books, 221 E. Archer St. ,Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States
Tickets
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