Three Cups of Tea

One Man's Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations

By: Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin

Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor

Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

In 1993 Greg Mortenson was the exhausted survivor of a failed attempt to ascend K2, an American climbing bum wandering emaciated and lost through Pakistan's Karakoram Himalaya. After he was taken in and nursed back to health by the people of an impoverished Pakistani village, Mortenson promised to return one day and build them a school. From that rash, earnest promise grew one of the most incredible humanitarian campaigns of our time: Greg Mortenson's one-man mission to counteract extremism by building schools, especially for girls, throughout the breeding ground of the Taliban.

Award-winning journalist David Oliver Relin has collaborated on this spellbinding account of Mortenson's incredible accomplishments in a region where Americans are often feared and hated. In pursuit of his goal, Mortenson has survived kidnapping, fatwas issued by enraged mullahs, repeated death threats, and wrenching separations from his wife and children. But his success speaks for itself. At last count, his Central Asia Institute had built 55 schools. Three Cups of Tea is at once an unforgettable adventure and the inspiring true story of how one man really is changing the world, one school at a time.

©2006 Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (P)2006 Tantor Media Inc

Critic reviews

"Three Cups of Tea is one of the most remarkable adventure stories of our time....Not only a thrilling read, it's proof that one ordinary person, with the right combination of character and determination, really can change the world." (Tom Brokaw)

Fabrication marketed as non-fiction

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

Anyone that wants to be deceived. To be fair, it appears that while Mortenson has done some good, he seems compelled to surround that kernel of good with fabricated stories to deify himself at the expense of his own credibility.

What could Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Mortenson could have told the truth. Most of the first 3 chapters as well as many of the other highlights in the book have been exposed as total fabrication.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Angered that this is still marketed as non-fiction. Read Krakauer's 3 cups of deceit that he wrote after he had donated $75,000 to CAI. We all want to believe in this tale of an underdog who overcomes insurmountable odds to make a lasting impact on the world. It is with great disappointment that I binge read this (I bought the kindle version as well) to find out that I'm just another person swindled by this morally bankrupt fraud. Youtube the 60 Minutes segment if you just want the Cliff Notes version. Do not buy this book! Saddened that my daughter is reading this for extra credit at school.

Any additional comments?

There's no way to tell if Relin committed suicide in connection with the expose that revealed most of this book as a fraud.

New narrator, please

How can a book that I've heard so much about be so difficult to listen to? Narration - makes or breaks an audiobook. New narrator, please.

Too bad it isn't all true - Audible should have a disclaimer

I enjoyed it at first but was suspicious- too bad it isn't a truthful account. Certainly he built schools. How many is difficult to know. Certainly he has learned how to work in remote and hospital conditions. Why he chose to fabricate interactions and parts of the story is a mystery to me.

Off to counterbalance with Three Cups of Deceit.

By Far the Worst Listening Experience

Words cannot express how much I hated this book. It is so unskillfully written that it's laughable. The author views his subject as manna from heaven (like it's so adorable when Mortenson shows up 10 days late for an important meeting) and the hero-worship is awful. Top that off with the world's worst narrator and you have the trifecta that makes this the world's worst audio book of all time. I am not faulting the work being done by Mortenson. But it could have been told in an interesting way that didn't make me want to run over my ipod in sheer frustration. If you MUST read this book, I would suggest that you get it in print because the print copy does have some interesting pictures. Or better yet, if you want to learn about the organization, read the webiste. You will understand everything perfectly from that. What an absolute horrible grating waste of time and a perfectly good Audible credit.

what?

Is this guy for real or juuust another con arteest. I shall have to downgrade my review rating downwards. Creditability shot in tushie.

Bleh

The voice really turned me off, especially when the narrator tried doing "accents," which were all a generic foreign accent. And it was just a butt-kissing session for the subject.

Boring

I tried six times to listen to this book, I even tried to read it. Each time I fell fast asleep.

A hero's tale

So much has been written about this book extolling its greatness that there is little that I can add except to recommend it to everyone. As a Marine who has been in some scary places in my life, I have not met anyone with more courage than Greg Mortenson... nor anyone who has contributed more to Peace.

boring as hell

the book completely sucked he is not going to fix anything. the schools could be taken over and tough terrorism

Worst audiobook ever

The narrator was awful and the way he pronounced certain words was very obnoxious. As soon as i started this book i learned that this guy Mortenson is a fraud and should have just returned it then.