The Monk of Mokha by Dave EggersMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Eggers tells another story of a normal guy facing long odds trying to do the right thing. I kept having flashbacks listening to this audiobook, and I realized I was constantly being reminded of Eggers’ book “Zeitoun”. Some of the anecdotes about an earnest individual being rousted by chaotic authority sounded very similar. In both books, the subject prevails in comparison to those around him. As I wrote in my review in “Zeitoun”, this non-fiction hero-making book has the feel of an advertisement for the subject, and in this case, Mokhtar’s coffee company does offer the book in a package with his coffee.
Despite my concerns about why this was written, I did enjoy the story to some extent. I love a good “new entrepreneur against the odds” story, and this fits the bill. You follow Mokhtar as he comes up with the idea, researches it, learns sales, lives a messy life, but figures it out, bit by bit. The culmination of the story in a chaotic attempt to leave Yemen for a coffee convention in Portland was a little too long. I was left wanting more on what happened after the realization of Mokhtar’s big break, but the book left that out, making me wonder if the story was over. You are not left with the feeling that Mokhtar has built a sustainable company. Hopefully, Eggers addresses this in future editions.
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