Three Cups of Deceit by Jon Krakauer

Book:  Three Cups of Deceit 

Author:  Jon Krakauer 

Grade:  B 

Recommended To: Krakauer fans, People who believe deceit is best served icy cold. 

Three Cups of Deceit is Jon Kraukauer's expose of The Central Asia Institute, a charitable institution that builds schools for children in Pakistan and Afghanistan.  

Some of the reveals in this book are shocking.  For example, the CAI rakes in millions of dollars in donations each year, but a small fraction of those donations are actually used to build schools.  Instead, the leader of the organization, Greg Mortensen, uses donated funds for private planes to his book signing and speaking events to the tune of several million dollars.  

Another shocker:  that none  of the profits from Greg Mortensen's extremely popular books are donated to the CAI, those royalties go straight into Greg's pocket.   

I've donated to the CAI and I raved about Greg Mortensen's book Three Cups of Tea  on this blog in early 2011.  (actually, almost a year ago today...interesting.)  The book is compelling and the stories told by Greg are uplifting.  I remember crying when finishing Three Cups and thinking that I had to do something, since a man from so humble beginnings was able to accomplish such extensive change.    Krakauer exposes many of the heartwarming stories in Three Cups, and Mortensen's follow up book Stones into Schools, as out right lies.  Many of the stories did not happen, or were seriously elaborated to make them sound better for publishing.

I trust Krakauer.  He has a reputation of thorough research that is easy to follow.  This is certainly not a heartwarming book, but, it is very interesting at a time when many charities are under scrutiny for exactly how donations are spent.

Happy Reading!!

Where Men Win Glory by Jon Krakauer - Guest Review by Jon

*** Periodically, I will feature guest reviewers on this blog.  This is a review of Jon Krakauer’s “Where Men Win Glory” by Jon. The views expressed in this review are his own. ***

Book:   Where Men Win Glory

Author:  Jon Krakauer

Grade:  A

Recommended To:   Everyone 

I must admit at the beginning that I am not an avid reader. My ideal day does not include peace, quiet and a good book. However, “Where Men Win Glory,” impacted me in a way that I have not felt since reading books about the holocaust. 


Jon Krakauer’s portrayal of Pat Tillman evokes a series of emotions both good and bad. After reading the book, there is a feeling in the pit of my stomach that I cannot acknowledge the source of. 

All I knew of Tillman before the book was that he passed up a lucrative career to serve his country. In this book, Krakauer provides a fair portrayal of an American idol. I say idol because after reading the book Tillman is more than a hero, he is a man I wish I could emulate. Krakauer does not shy away from anything in his portrayal of Tillman and covers both his faults and his ideals. The book does not come off as a highly edited fluff piece about a war hero. Instead, it is a story about a man and the set of ideals that caused him to turn down millions of dollars and leave his wife to serve his country. 

As far as my criticism of the book, Krakauer spends a considerable portion of the book discussing the pitfalls of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the beginning of the book this helps to provide the landscape for the events that led to Tillman’s death.  But Krakauer does little to mask his distaste for how the war was conducted by the Bush Administration. By the end of the book this begins to distract the reader from the true hero, Pat Tillman.  

As a fair warning, there are large segments of the book that will make you mad. It would be impossible to make a movie about Tillman’s time at war because so many of the events that led to and resulted from Tillman’s death are beyond comprehension. But the one thing that is easily understandable is that Pat Tillman was a great man who deserved more than what he got. 

I hope that you will enjoy reading this book. I realize that an A is the highest honor possible on this blog and I believe that this book deserves it. If nothing else, I highly recommend that you check out the Wikipedia page on this American idol.  

Happy Reading, 

Jon