The Monk of Mokha

by Dave Eggers

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

“A gripping, triumphant adventure” (Los Angeles Times) from bestselling author Dave Eggers, the incredible 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 discovers the astonishing history of coffee and Yemen’s central place in it. He leaves San Francisco and travels deep into his ancestral homeland to tour terraced farms high in the country’s rugged mountains and meet beleaguered but determined farmers. But when war engulfs the country and Saudi bombs rain down, Mokhtar has to find a way out of Yemen without sacrificing his dreams or abandoning his people.

• ISBN10: 1101947314
• ISBN13: 9781101947319
• Publish Date: 30 January 2018 (first published 23 January 2018)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Alfred A. Knopf
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 352
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9781101947319

Reviews

[Beth C.]

What an excellent story! This is my first Dave Eggers book (insert gasps and side-eye here), but it definitely won't be my last. This was a fascinating read, and while much of that is due to the nature of the gentleman the book is about, without a good writing style, it still could have been dry as dust. Definitely an interesting look at a little known piece of coffee history, and all of the factors surrounding why.