the Monk of Mokha
BY DAVE EGGERS
Monk of Mokha is the 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, unable to pay for college, and working as a doorman when he becomes fascinated with the rich history of coffee. He travels to Yemen and visits countless farms, collecting samples, eager to bring improved cultivation methods to the countryside. In 2015 he is on the verge of success when civil war engulfs the country. The US Embassy closes, Saudi bombs rain down, and Mokhtar is trapped in Yemen, desperate to escape. A heart-pounding true story, The Monk of Mokha weaves together the history of coffee, the ongoing Yemeni civil war, and the courageous journey of a young man--a Muslim and a US citizen--following the most American of dreams.
“It combines—in a single moving narrative—history, politics, biography, psychology, adventure, drama, despair, hope, triumph and the irrepressible, indomitable nature of the human spirit at its best.”
—Imam Zaid Shakir
On sale 1/30/18, Penguin Random House.
Mokhtar Alkhanshali, the subject of The Monk of Mokha, is featured on CBS Sunday Morning.
Yemenis were the first to cultivate coffee, which has been heralded as the best in the world, but years of conflict have prevented Yemeni farmers from growing and exporting their crop.
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the mokha Foundation
Humanitarian aid and economic development for Yemen. College scholarships and support for students from San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood.
The Mokha Foundation Scholarships were established by Dave Eggers and Mokhtar Alkhanshali and are administered by ScholarMatch.