Three Cups of Deceit

How Greg Mortenson, Humanitarian Hero, Lost His Way

By: Jon Krakauer

Narrated by: Mark Bramhall

Greg Mortenson has built a global reputation as a selfless humanitarian and children’s crusader, and he’s been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. He is also not what he appears to be. As acclaimed author Jon Krakauer discovered, Mortenson has not only fabricated substantial parts of his bestselling books Three Cups of Tea and Stones into Schools, but has also misused millions of dollars donated by unsuspecting admirers like Krakauer himself.

This is the tragic tale of good intentions gone very wrong.

100% of Jon Krakauer's proceeds from the sale of Three Cups of Deceit will be donated to the "Stop Girl Trafficking" project at the American Himalayan Foundation (www.himalayan-foundation.org/live/project/stopgirltrafficking).



Photograph © Matthieu Paley/www.paleyphoto.com

Critic reviews

"Packed with interviews and anecdotes that undercut Mortenson's image as a cheerful do-gooder, Krakauer's account of good intentions gone horribly wrong is a stunning example of investigative journalism." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Krakauer forcefully claims that Mortenson improperly used his charity’s funds and failed to build all the schools he says he did.” –Chicago Tribune

How good are you at detecting fraud?

If you were in charge of funding various endeavors around the world that had the potential to address global inequalities, would you know which ventures to fund and which ones would result in your funding con artists instead? Would a history of handing over money to con artists make you less willing to throw your money toward life changing proposed projects? It is a tricky job, to be sure. This book makes it clear that even extremely savvy, successful, and wealthy individuals can have a difficult time parsing the cons from more reliable individuals. Even at top levels, people seem enamored with charm and and good backstory, even if that story is made up of outrageous lies.

The fraud in this book, which was detailed in a fast-paced, engaging manner, reminded me of a lecture I once attended in which an investigator from the World bank spoke of the different ways the World Bank had been defrauded. The job of the World Bank is to determine where the greatest need is and who has the greatest potential to build businesses to help improve the economic situation in developing countries. With limited human resources, the World Bank attempts to find valid contractors who will carry out the proposed projects. However, there are not quite enough human resources to be effective. In order to know the money is well spent, individuals must travel the world to oversee all of the projects. As a result, an individual or a company can be given large sums of money to build some type of business in an impoverished part of the world, but pocket the money and build nothing. In other scenarios, actual buildings are constructed, but there are death threats made so that only the most corrupt individuals get the bid. Still other individuals work with those at the world bank, offering bribes. Corruption comes in many different forms and there are not enough investigators to detect the large number of frauds occurring at any given time.

Krakauer pointed out that the author of Three Cups of Tea seemed to have been taken in by Mortenson like everyone else was, and did not realize he was writing a book of lies. It seems that Mortenson was actually trying to do something good at some point, which made the fraud harder to detect. I could not help but recall the Decemviri, who were the most noble men Rome had to offer. Rome rose the Decemviri to power and the nobel men became drunk on that power, turning from trustworthy men who were fighting for equality to tyrants who tried to rule everyone. Mortenson seems to have actually been passionate about helping underprivileged children but became more interested in exploiting the stories of those children, and preying on the fears of people in developed countries, to gain money and fame.

Fascinating...

This book seems to confirm my worst suspicions about the "Three Cups of Tea" phenomenon.

Krakauer is a captivating author!!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. The story is woven with articulate facts in an engaging style.

What other book might you compare Three Cups of Deceit to and why?

All of Krakauer's other books-----------in a word = superb.

Which character – as performed by Mark Bramhall – was your favorite?

N/A

Any additional comments?

I will continue to read anything that Jon Krakauer writes. His style is captivating. The ONLY thing that would improve this audio-book would be if Krakauer himself would narrate it.

Interesting at the right length

Krakauer is one of my favorite authors. His best book is, Into Thin Air, which is an extremely exciting adventure. After writing several books on Mountain Climbing, JK got into investigating reporting. Often he goes into political incorrect areas that other journalist will not touch. I was amazed by his book, Under The Banner of Heaven, a report about the Mormons. It is very informative and you will not believe what is going on still today in the name of this religion. Where Men Win Glory, is a bio on Pat Tillman and a look at the amount of friendly fire that kills many of our soliders.

Three Cups is not as good as these others, but still it is a good informative read on how good people go bad. It is not near as long as his other books, it is just the right size for the subject matter. If you give to charities then you will want to listen to this short book.

Fantastic performance by Mark Braumhall

Excellent book. Sad story of EGO. I read 3 cups of Tea years ago and was blown away. Turns out Mortenson is uh...full of ego. Glad to have the truth. Won’t put me off charities - that’s a cop out some will take - but I’ll definitely do more research next time I give.