Made possible by the Drue Heinz Trust
“In telling Mokhtar’s story with such clarity, honesty, and humor, Eggers allows readers to consider Yemen and Yemenis – long invisible, side-lined, or maligned in the American imagination – in their wonderful and complicated fullness.”
Alia Malek, author of The Home That Was Our Country: A Memoir of Syria and A Country Called Amreeka: Arab Roots, American Stories
The Monk of Mokha is the latest “gripping, triumphant adventure” (Los Angeles Times) from Dave Eggers, bestselling author of National Book Award Finalist A Hologram for the King and A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.
Eggers is the author of ten books, including most recently Your Fathers, Where Are They? And the Prophets, Do They Live Forever?, and The Circle. He is the founder of McSweeney’s, an independent publishing company based in San Francisco that produces books, a quarterly journal, and a monthly magazine. Eggers is the co-founder of 826 National, a network of eight tutoring centers around the country and ScholarMatch, a nonprofit organization designed to connect students with resources, schools and donors to make college possible.
The Monk of Mokha tells the incredible true story of Yemeni American Mokhtar Alkhanshali, a twenty-four-year-old college dropout working as a doorman in San Francisco, and his dream of resurrecting the ancient art of Yemeni coffee. When Alkhanshali journeys deep into his family’s ancestral homeland, where coffee was first brewed in the 16th century, war breaks out and he finds himself trapped in Sana. Dave Eggers captures Mokhtar’s death-defying journey through an active war zone to get on a flight to Seattle with one suitcase full of unroasted coffee and his mission to share Yemen’s lost treasure—and the farmers who grow it—with the world.
Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures will present both Dave Eggers and Mokhtar Alkhanshali, the founder and CEO of Port of Mokha coffee, in conversation.
More about The Monk of Mokha
The New York Times, January 2018
‘The Monk of Mokha’ is Dave Eggers’s Latest PG-13 Story About the American Dream
The Washington Post, January 2018
Dave Eggers tells the story of the most dangerous cup of coffee in the world
Vanity Fair, January 2018
Dave Eggers on the Yemeni Entrepreneur and $16 Cup of Coffee at the Center of His New Book
Bon Appétit, January 2018
Dave Eggers on His New Book, the Story of a Man Who Risked His Life for Coffee
“Here’s a story for our time: filled with ethos and pathos. You’ll laugh, cry, and discover worlds unknown to most. From scamming in the Tenderloin to dodging bombs in Yemen, Mokhtar and Eggers take us on a worthwhile ride through the postmodern topography of our times.”
Hamza Hanson Yusuf
Book Signing
Join us in the Music Hall Foyer after the lecture to get your book signed or personalized. Classic Lines will have books for sale.
Please note that Dave Eggers will only be signing copies of The Monk of Mokha.
Underwritten by S&T Wealth Management
