Three Cups of Tea

Three Cups of Tea
Author	Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
Country	US
Language	English
Genre(s)	Non-Fiction/Memoir
Publisher	Penguin Group
Publication date	2006, 2007, 2008
Media type	Hardcover, Paperback, Audio CD
Pages	368
ISBN	978-0143038252
OCLC Number	83299454
Followed by	Stones into Schools

Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace ... One School at a Time (original hardcover title: Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations ... One School at a Time) is a New York Times bestselling book by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin published by Penguin in 2006.^[1] The book describes Mortenson's transition from a mountain-climber to a humanitarian committed to reducing poverty and educating girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan. He did this by co-founding the Central Asia Institute, which has built over 131 schools in the most remote areas of the countries, educating over 58,000 students.^[2][3]

The book's title comes from a Balti proverb: "The first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger. The second time you take tea, you are an honored guest. The third time you share a cup of tea, you become family..."^[4]

Summary

In 1993, Greg Mortenson attempted to climb K2, the world's second highest mountain, in the Karakoram range of northern Pakistan, as a way of honoring the memory of his deceased sister Christa. He was planning to lay her beautiful amber necklace on the summit of K2.^[5] After more than 70 days on the mountain, Greg and three other climbers had their ascent interrupted by the need to complete a 75-hour life-saving rescue of a fifth climber. After getting lost during his descent, he became weak and exhausted, and by chance alone, instead of arriving in Askole, where his porters awaited, he came across Korphe, a small village built on a shelf jutting out from a canyon. He was greeted and taken in by the chief elder of Korphe, Haji Ali.^[6]

To repay the remote community for its hospitality, Mortenson promised to build a school for the village. After difficulties in raising capital, Mortenson was introduced to Jean Hoerni, a Silicon Valley pioneer who donated the money that Mortenson needed for his school. In the last months of Hoerni's life (Hoerni was dying from leukemia), he co-founded the Central Asia Institute, endowing the CAI to build schools in rural Pakistan and Afghanistan.^[7]

Mortenson faced many daunting challenges in his quest to raise funds for the building of more than 55 schools in Taliban territory, including death threats from Islamic mullahs, long periods of separation from his family, and being kidnapped by Taliban sympathizers.^[8]

Reflecting on the state of the post-9/11 world, Mortenson argues that extremism in the region can be deterred through collaborative efforts to alleviate poverty and improve access to education, especially for girls. Formerly, schooling focused on the boys, but educated boys tend to move to the cities to find jobs, and seldom return. By contrast, educated girls tend to remain in the community and pass their enhanced knowledge to the next generation. Thus, Mortenson suggests, educating girls has more of a lasting benefit for the community.^[9]

Perspective

Though Mortenson and Relin are given equivalent author credits, the book is written from Relin's perspective as an admiring journalist interviewing and observing Mortenson. In the book's introduction, Relin admits to liking Mortenson too much to be as objective as he probably should be.

Publication

The original hardback book was released in 2006 with the subtitle, "One Man's Mission to Fight Terrorism One School at a Time." Mortenson fought against the subtitle, and the edition sold only 20,000 copies. Mortenson prevailed upon the publishers to change the subtitle for the 2007 paperback edition to his first choice, "One Man's Mission to Promote Peace One School at a Time." His publisher relented, and the re-titled book made the New York Times nonfiction paperback bestseller list. Mortenson explained his reasoning for the subtitle in a talk given in Fairfield, Connecticut: "If you just fight terrorism, it's based in fear. If you promote peace, it's based in hope." ^[10]

The book remained a number one New York Times bestseller for "three years" ^[11] after its release. The book is also a popular university freshman or campus read on about three dozen campuses, and has been chosen for One City One Book community reads in over 300 cities, and published in over 39 countries internationally, and used on over 100 University and college campuses as a Freshman Experience, Honor's program or campus-wide read book. A young adult version of Three Cups of Tea was published by Penguin on January 22, 2009.

Criticism

Though widely praised, Three Cups of Tea was subject to some specific criticism. Bookmarks magazine wrote that, "Despite the important message, critics quibbled over the awkward prose and some melodrama. After all, a story as dramatic and satisfying as this should tell itself."^[12] AudioFile Magazine echoed these comments, "Though Relin's writing is not top-caliber, Mortenson's story comes through as exciting and inspiring."^[13]

Awards

• Kiriyama Prize
• Time Magazine Asia Book of The Year
• Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association – Nonfiction Award
• Montana Honor Book Award
• Borders Bookstore Original Voices Selection
• Banff Mountain Festival Book Award Finalist
• Dayton Literary Prize Nonfiction Award – runner up
• People Magazine – Critics Choice
• Publisher’s Weekly – Starred Review
• Mom's Choice Award 2009 ^[14]
• 2009 Italy: Premio Gambrinus “Giuseppe Mazzotti” ^[15]
• Powell Book's Puddly Award (nonfiction), Portland ^[16]
• 2010 The Christopher Award: "To affirm the highest values of the human spirit" ^[17]

Three Cups of Tea – Young Adult Book
Author	Greg Mortenson, Adapted by Sarah Thomson
Publisher	Puffin
Publication date	January 22, 2009
Media type	Audio Version by: Actress Atossa Leoni (starred in Kite Runner), and intro by Vanessa Redgrave
Pages	240
ISBN	978-0142414125
Preceded by	Introduction by: Dr. Jane Goodall and 20 page Q&A interview with Amira Mortenson, Mortenson's daughter

Editions

• 2006, Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Fight Terrorism One School at a Time. 1st Edition. Viking Press. ISBN 978-0-670-03482-6. Hardcover.
• 2007, Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace…One School at a Time. Tantor Media. ISBN 978-1-4001-5251-3. (Audio MP3 CD).
• 2007, Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace…One School at a Time. Penguin Books Ltd. ISBN 978-0-14-303825-2. Paperback.
• 2009, Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Journey to Change The World…One Child at a Time (Young Adult Book). Mortenson, Greg; Relin, David Oliver; signature by Amira Mortenson, forward by Jane Goddall. Puffin. ISBN 0-14-241412-3.
• 2009, Listen To The Wind: The Story of Dr. Greg and Three Cups of Tea, (Children's book). Mortenson, Greg; Roth, Susan – illustrator. Dial Books. ISBN 0-802-729448.

Sequel

A sequel to Three Cups of Tea, titled Stones Into Schools: Promoting Peace With Books, Not Bombs, In Afghanistan and Pakistan [3], was released on December 1, 2009 by Viking Press. Stones Into Schools, is a follow-up to Three Cups of Tea and follows the progress of Mortenson's seventeen year effort to promote female literacy and education, with an emphasis on the expansion of his efforts into Afghanistan, and his expressed admiration to help the U.S. military to promote peace and build relationships with the Afghan shura (leaders).

References

External links

• Three Cups of Tea – official site
• Three Cups of Tea at Google Books
• Greg Mortenson
• David Oliver Relin
• Central Asia Institute
• Pennies for Peace

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