A Very Private Gentleman is a novel written by British author Martin Booth, published in 1990. It is a tragedy following events in the life of a gunsmith who sells his services to assassins. The style is also partly in the form of classic confessional writing, as the protagonist seeks to explain the relevance of his choice of vocation. It was reissued by Bantam Books in 2010 under the title The American (ISBN 978-0553825725), after a film of that title had been made based on it.