Quicklet on Jon Krakauer's Three Cups of Deceit (CliffsNotes-like Book Summary)

ABOUT THE BOOK

Like so many others, I remember reading Greg Mortenson’s revolutionary Three Cups of Tea for a college class. The book was an instant hit, both in the media and in my own mind. No one could resist its tale of compassion, adventure, and triumph, set in the exotic Far-Middle East but offering an uplifting tale in sharp contrast to news about war and conflict.

Greg Mortenson himself appealed to me greatly. Who could not like a mountain-climbing humanitarian who escaped near-death to fall in love, all while creating a series of schools throughout impoverished Afghanistan and Pakistan? It was movie magic… And then it really was movie magic.

Three Cups of Deceit pulled back the veil on Three Cups of Tea, revealing the lies, fabrications, and dishonesty Mortenson appears to have used when creating his adventure tale. What Three Cups of Deceit offers is a mixture of both argument and evidence. It does not come across as a separate story, but as a painful analysis of Tea and the sequel Stones into Schools.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Tyler Lacoma writes on business, environmental, and fitness topics, but squeezes in some time for fiction, too. He graduated from George Fox University and lives in beautiful Oregon, where he fills spaces between writing with outdoor fun, loud music, and time with family and friends.

EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK

The text goes on to reveal how such actions damaged the causes the CAI has tried to advance and how the organization is not as successful as Mortenson would like its supporters to believe. Krakauer also takes time to analyze Mortenson’s own mistakes, financial sloppiness, and possible motives for fictionalizing what could have been an honest account of conditions in the Himalayas. The reason, according to Deceit, is only, “To inflate the myth of Greg Mortenson.”

Krakauer divides his text into three different sections, eschewing chapters for a more organic flow. At less than 80 pages long, the bulk of the book does not require frequent headings to stay readable. The first section section, titled The Creation Myth, examines the account Greg Mortenson gives in Three Cups of Tea when he first came across Haji Ali and the village of Korphe, where he was inspired to build the first school. Krakauer frequently moves back and forth between his own exposition and quotes from Tea and other pieces written by or about Mortenson to highlight the differences in fact…

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