The Monk of Mokha

Product Information

Throughout The Monk of Mokha, the concept of code-switching is discussed, particularly in relation to Mokhtar’s status as both an American citizen and that of a Yemeni American.

The Monk of Mokha by Dave Eggers | Goodreads

What are their lives like now, and what has it been like to see the country deteriorate over these last few years? Mokhtar does not seem to be in on the joke at all, with the play of words on Milton and Joseph Campbell. Eggers’s first foray into a global subject matter, it nevertheless maintained some continuity of style with the earlier books.It is estimated that up to 40% of Yemen’s water supply is going towards khat production, and the country is in near term danger of running out of water. Look at the growth of Eggers’ 826 Valencia literacy project from its original location in San Francisco to chapters around the country, and the oral history initiative Voices of Witness continues to give voice to the marginalized and unheard. The Mokha Foundation Scholarships were established by Dave Eggers and Mokhtar Alkhanshali and are administered by ScholarMatch. Q: Mokhtar, you still operate your company, Port of Mokha coffee, which continues to import coffee beans from war-torn Yemen.

The Monk of Mokha by Dave Eggers review – smell the coffee

From the bestselling author of The Circleand What Is the What, 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. By the time Mokhtar was pouring him a cup, the Italian wanted to know how he could invest in Mokhtar’s company. 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.In a blind cupping, Port of Mokha coffee was awarded a 90+, beating out many coffees from world-renowned farms. I did feel that the book went on a bit long and some of the less important details about the coffee industry could have been cut. This includes, along with the kind of preferred details listed above, a particular mode of constructing the narrative.

The Monk of Mokha by Dave Eggers: 9781101971444

Coffee starts getting cultivated in the mountain and valley terraces, and shared with pilgrims and traders who visit the country. This rigorous course involves learning how to cup, taste, identify, and grade both green and roasted coffee. While neighboring countries like India, Somalia, and Pakistan were finding ways to evacuate their citizens, the US was not taking any action.It’s difficult to tell where a reader can or should stand by the end of Dave Eggers‘ The Monk of Mokha. And Mokhtar was able to share the good news with the farmers back in Yemen, whose future, despite all the political unrest and economic challenges, was finally looking brighter. Then, in a building across from the Infinity that dates back to the late 1800s and that once housed one of the oldest coffee import businesses in the United States, he discovers the connection between coffee and Yemen. He leaves San Francisco and travels deep into his ancestral homeland to tour terraced farms high in the country’s rugged mountains and meet beleagured but determined farmers. The prologue also makes it apparent that Eggers retraced parts of Mokhtar’s journey with him, visiting Yemen as well as nearby Ethiopia and Djibouti.

The Monk of Mokha by Dave Eggers Book Club Discussion Questions: The Monk of Mokha by Dave Eggers

An American citizen, Mokhtar was abandoned by his government and left to evade Saudi bombs and Houthi rebels. I think it was about 18 months into our interviews when he told me that he sometimes had to carry a grenade on his jacket in Yemen, just to imply he was not to be trifled with—in the pursuit of coffee beans.There’s the Tenderloin neighborhood and, in contrast, the high-rise world of the Infinity, where Mokhtar worked as a doorman. He advises Mokhtar not to get in touch with Andrew Nicholson, an American coffee mill owner in Yemen.