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The Monk of Mokha

The Monk of Mokha

Summary

From the best-selling author of The Circle - the gripping true story of a young Yemeni American man, raised in San Francisco, who dreams of resurrecting the ancient art of Yemeni coffee but finds himself trapped in Sana'a by civil war

Mokhtar Alkhanshali is twenty-four and working as a doorman when he becomes fascinated with the rich history of coffee and Yemen's central place in it. He leaves San Francisco and travels deep into his ancestral home to tour terraced farms high in the country's rugged mountains. He collects samples and organizes farmers and is on the verge of success when civil war engulfs the country. Saudi bombs rain down, the U.S. embassy closes, and Mokhtar has to find a way out of Yemen with only his hopes on his back.

The Monk of Mokha is the story of this courageous and visionary young man following the most American of dreams.

'Extraordinary... No story is more urgent' Observer

'Dramatic, aspirational smartly and engagingly written... Exactly what I want to read right now' The Times

'The antidote to Trumpism... This is a book that celebrates [the] exuberance of the human spirit' Mail on Sunday

'This book... is about the American dream, and the threat that it is under' Spectator

'Remarkable... full of derring-do, tenacity and exceptional luck' Metro

Reviews

  • Readers will never take coffee for granted or overlook the struggles of Yemen after ingesting Eggers's phenomenally well-written, juggernaut tale of an intrepid and irresistible entrepreneur on a complex and meaningful mission, a highly caffeinated adventure story
    Booklist

About the author

Dave Eggers

Dave Eggers is the author of many acclaimed books, including The Circle; What is the What and Zeitoun.

He is the founder of the publishing house and magazine McSweeney's and the cofounder of 826 Valencia, a youth writing center that has inspired similar programs around the world.

His work has been translated into forty-two languages.
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