The Monk of Mokha

by Dave Eggers

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.

• ISBN10: 0241278503
• ISBN13: 9780241278505
• Publish Date: 25 January 2018 (first published 23 January 2018)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 10 March 2021
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
• Imprint: Hamish Hamilton Ltd
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 352
• Language: English

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.