Wag the Dog (novel)

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Wag the Dog: A Novel

First edition
Author	Larry Beinhart
Original title	American Hero
Cover artist	Maria Elias
Language	English
Genre	Satire, Conspiracy fiction
Publisher	Nation Books
Publication date	1993, 2004
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (paperback)
Pages	392
ISBN	1-56025-663-X

American Hero is a 1993 satirical conspiracy novel, reissued as Wag the Dog: A Novel in 2004, written by Larry Beinhart. It speculates that Operation Desert Storm had been scripted and choreographed as a ploy to get George H. W. Bush reelected to a second term (taking cues from Margaret Thatcher's similar war in the Falkland Islands), while at the same time analyzing exactly why that conflict had been so popular. The book formed the inspiration and basis for the 1997 film, Wag the Dog.