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3 ratings | 2 reviews | avg rating:5.00

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Ken’s Friends (26)

Jerome Otte

23,869 books | 591 friends

Yaritza

18,548 books | 3,096 friends

Megan

2,571 books | 9 friends

Ricardo

457 books | 74 friends

Gigi

1,300 books | 167 friends

Arnon Daniel

1 book | 109 friends

Ammar Abdulhamid

16 books | 383 friends

Jonathan Blumenthal

88 books | 31 friends

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Ken Ballen

Goodreads Author

Born

New York

Website

http://www.kenballen.com/

Twitter

KenBallen

Genre

Fiction, Gay and Lesbian, Literature & Fiction

Member Since

August 2011

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THE BETTER ANIMAL has been chosen by Forbes as one of the 10 Notable New Author Debuts for Fall 2026

Ken Ballen's first book, exposing the plight of gays in the Middle East, had him banned in Saudi Arabia. As the New York Times reported, “Ballen also elicited a fascinating confession from a Saudi militant who was from a prominent religious family and who had a passionate love affair with his male first cousin.”

The Washington Post also praised the book as “riveting, heart-wrenching and haunting,” and The Huffington Post found it “engaging the emotions and challenging readers.”

A former federal prosecutor, Ken served as counsel to the House Iran-Contra Committee, chief counsel to the Speaker of the House, and chief counsel to the Senate Special ...more

Combine Editions
Ken Ballen’s books

Average rating: 3.87 · 350 ratings · 90 reviews · 3 distinct works • Similar authors

	Terrorists In Love: The Real Lives of Islamic Radicals by Ken Ballen (Goodreads Author), Peter L. Bergen (Foreword) 3.89 avg rating — 343 ratings — published 2011 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Better Animal by Ken Ballen (Goodreads Author), Wu Ming 2.94 avg rating — 8 ratings — expected publication 2026	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Better Animal: A Novel by Ken Ballen (Goodreads Author), Wu Ming 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

Ken’s Recent Updates

Ken Ballen is now friends with Megan
Oct 02, 2026 02:56PM · like
Ken Ballen shared a quote “ASK NOT HOW A DOG CAN BE PRESIDENT— ASK HOW WE CAN AFFORD TO LET ANOTHER HUMAN BE PRESIDENT.” Ken Ballen
Sep 06, 2026 01:27PM · like · more quotes by Ken Ballen

More of Ken's books…

Quotes by Ken Ballen (?)

“ASK NOT HOW A DOG CAN BE PRESIDENT—
ASK HOW WE CAN AFFORD TO LET ANOTHER HUMAN BE PRESIDENT.”
― Ken Ballen, The Better Animal

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Ken’s Quotes

“ASK NOT HOW A DOG CAN BE PRESIDENT—
ASK HOW WE CAN AFFORD TO LET ANOTHER HUMAN BE PRESIDENT.”
― Ken Ballen, The Better Animal

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Ken’s Friend Comments

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message 1: by Ken

Oct 19, 2011 11:25AM

Hi Melissa: Thanks so much for your comment. I will get to your longer message. I really look forward to your opinion of the book and thanks again for your kind comments. Ken

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