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Three Cups of Deceit: How Greg Mortenson, Humanitarian Hero, Lost His Way
by Jon Krakauer
by Jon Krakauer
Krakauer makes some pretty serious allegations in this quick read (only about 70 pages long), which I was drawn to because of Greg Mortenson's Three Cups of Tea. He alleges that Three Cups of Tea only remained at the top of the NYT best-seller list because Mortenson himself used funds donated to his charity (for building schools in Pakistan) to go online and buy his own book from Amazon. It was sort of sadly funny to read that Mortenson was furious when he heard that Three Cups of Tea was pipped from the #1 spot, and immediately rushed online to buy more copies of it.
More seriously, Krakauer writes that Mortenson treated the Central Asia Institute as some sort of personal ATM, spending extravagantly and refusing to account for any of the expenses to anyone.
He lied in Three Cups of Tea in the chapter about his kidnapping by the Taliban (he was never kidnapped, in fact he was welcomed warmly and treated as a special guest by a Pakistani tribe, who now plan to sue Mortenson for the libel in the book. Old colleagues of Mortenson's and ex-donors to CAI discuss their experiences of working with Mortenson in interviews with Krakauer in this book.
Someone pointed out to me that Krakauer himself has been accused of fudging facts about his Mt. Everest expedition in his book Into Thin Air, so his claims should be taken with a pinch of salt. I agree, all that rarified air, all these mountaineers.. ;-) But more seriously, I will observe that nobody has accused Krakauer of spending money meant for charity on himself. Nobody has accused Krakauer of being a fabulist, especially not about anything he did in normal altitudes. People have simply disagreed with his representation of events in Into Thin Air. I am inclined to believe him on Mortenson being a fraud because he sounds very much like he was also duped by the man. Having donated to CAI, he can rightly question the way it spends donors' money. Now, I am not going to read Mortenson's next book, Stones into Schools, because I am quite convinced Mortenson spends money meant for charity wrongfully, lies about his experiences, and has not done as much as he has claimed to help people gain access to education in Pakistan.
More seriously, Krakauer writes that Mortenson treated the Central Asia Institute as some sort of personal ATM, spending extravagantly and refusing to account for any of the expenses to anyone.
He lied in Three Cups of Tea in the chapter about his kidnapping by the Taliban (he was never kidnapped, in fact he was welcomed warmly and treated as a special guest by a Pakistani tribe, who now plan to sue Mortenson for the libel in the book. Old colleagues of Mortenson's and ex-donors to CAI discuss their experiences of working with Mortenson in interviews with Krakauer in this book.
Someone pointed out to me that Krakauer himself has been accused of fudging facts about his Mt. Everest expedition in his book Into Thin Air, so his claims should be taken with a pinch of salt. I agree, all that rarified air, all these mountaineers.. ;-) But more seriously, I will observe that nobody has accused Krakauer of spending money meant for charity on himself. Nobody has accused Krakauer of being a fabulist, especially not about anything he did in normal altitudes. People have simply disagreed with his representation of events in Into Thin Air. I am inclined to believe him on Mortenson being a fraud because he sounds very much like he was also duped by the man. Having donated to CAI, he can rightly question the way it spends donors' money. Now, I am not going to read Mortenson's next book, Stones into Schools, because I am quite convinced Mortenson spends money meant for charity wrongfully, lies about his experiences, and has not done as much as he has claimed to help people gain access to education in Pakistan.
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