From the Iranian hostage crisis through the Gulf War and the bombing of the World Trade Center, the American news media have portrayed 'Islam' as a monolithic entity, synonymous with terrorism and religious hysteria. At the same time, Islamic countries use 'Islam' to justify unrepresentative and often repressive regimes. Combining political commentary with literary criticism, Covering Islam continues Edward Said reveals the hidden assumptions and distortions of fact that underlie even the most 'objective' coverage of the Islamic world.