The Monk of Mokha

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There is a great section of the novel where the woman at one of the processing factories privately informs Mokhtar of the abuse and ethical mistreatment of employees at the facility, so he creates his own and hires those employees. I have family members trying desperately to apply for their loved ones to come to the US but because of the current administration’s travel bans, they are stuck waiting for approvals at embassies in Cairo, Amman, Kuala Lumpur and Djibouti. The US Embassy closes, Saudi bombs began to rain down on the country, and Mokhtar is trapped in Yemen. Relate this emphasis on physical appearance to how he presents himself as he is growing his business.

The Coffee-Flavored American Dream - The New York Times The Coffee-Flavored American Dream - The New York Times

The main problem: In this book, Mokhtar is a one-dimensional superhero, with one superpower: He can talk himself out of any situation. You hear of harrowing stories of his time in Yemen and trying to get out Yemen when violence erupts. Both include copious extracts from Mokhtar’s business plans, complete with bullet points and boilerplate language: “Vision: To empower Yemeni coffee farmers with the knowledge and tools to bring positive changes in the quality of their coffee and life. An Islamic Scholar and Sufi mystic discovers that if he sets a pot of water over his cook fire, and boils the seeds of a certain fruit that grows wild in the hills, the water turns a muddy brown. Though initially hesitant about being the subject of a book, Alkhanshali recognized the value in bringing more attention to Yemeni coffee.

Initially, he is sad that he has no one to celebrate with, but then Dave Eggers, the author, arrives at his new apartment, and they celebrate the moment.

The Monk of Mokha by Dave Eggers — conflict coffee The Monk of Mokha by Dave Eggers — conflict coffee

His parents had sent him to live with his grandfather in Ibb for a year when he was in eighth grade, hoping it would straighten him out. The barista spoke to me about where it was grown, the elevation, varietal, how it was processed— but most of all, how their direct relationship to these growers make it possible for the farmers to make more money and live a better life. An early chapter that explores Mokhtar’s brief relationship with a Palestinian-American begins: “Miriam gave things to Mokhtar.But he was also intelligent and resourceful, and he was driven to be an activist, spurred on by his great pride in his Yemeni heritage. He is the founder of McSweeney’s, an independent publishing company based in San Francisco that produces books, a quarterly journal of new writing ( McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern), and a monthly magazine, The Believer. The latter half of the novel has him racing to escape the war and make it back to a coffee conference.