Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Are the "Three Cups of Tea" Half Empty or Half Full First a disclosure: I am a long time donor to CAI. I also know Scott Darsney (Greg Mortenson's Climbing Partner on K2), we were both members of the Northeastern University Outing Club in the Late 80's. It is obvious that Jon Krakauer would believe that the "Three Cups of Tea" are half empty if not completely empty. His book primary focuses on following three aspects the book " Three Cups of Tea", Greg Mortenson, and Greg Mortensons' organization the Central Asia Institute. 1. Inaccuracies of some of the stories in the book "Three cups of Tea" 2. Mismanagement of funds by Greg Mortenson though CAI 3. Reports of ghost schools that are have been built in Pakistan but not used. I actually feel that the "Three Cups of Tea" are half full if not more. Although I am unhappy that many of the stories may have been distorted, either by Greg, David Relin or Viking Press, the most important part are the results of Greg's mission - Building Schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Jon spends the least amount of the book on the most important aspect of Greg's mission. Jon even states that tens of thousands of children (primary girls) have benefited from the dozens of schools that Greg has build. Jon only reports on a couple of ghost schools that are not used. Greg Mortenson has claimed to have built 170 schools. A few ghost schools out of 170 is a >90% success rate. Even a 50-60% success rate for any social development program carried out in one of the poorest regions with some of the lowest human rights records for women in the world would be a success. Jon should have really focused on how well these schools are doing. He should have spent a few months traveling in the region to visit a statistically significant number of the schools In regards to the mismanagement of CAI funds. Is obvious that this is the area where the CAI needs to most improvement. I find Jon's reports the most distressing part of the saga. However Jon primarily focuses on the finacial report of 2009. What about the other 14 financial reports from 1996 to 2011? He really should have analyzed all of them to give an accurate financial overview of the CAI. Also it would have helped to compare the CAI's funding efficiency with a range of other similar non profit entities to see how they all compare. In addition, Jon said he attempted to get a response from Greg on the allegations. Greg said he would, but only after he completed his surgical procedure. Why didn't Jon wait a few months? This would have added another level of validity to the book. Finally, there are now reports starting to surface that there is some distortion of the facts by Jon Krakauer himself. Scott Darsney has already reported publicly that Jon has misused his own words. You can find an interview with Scott in the following link. Also, just to be clear. I haven't had personal discussions with Scott Darsney yet. Search for the outside magazine for the article "" Scott Darsney Questions the Accuracy and Fairness of "Three Cups of Deceit" "". Amazon will not let me publish a link here. outsideonline.com/adventure/travel-ga-scott-darsney-greg-mortenson-three-cups-of-deceit-response-sidwcmdev_155822.html In conclusion, I am giving this book two stars because I think Jon could have provided a much more thorough analysis. Also, the Outsider interview with Scott Darsney raises questions to the accuracy of Jon's portrayal of the facts, such that I begin to question Jon's motives. On the otherside, I would like to see Greg provide an accurate assessment of the schools and use of funds. He should note the failures as well as the successes. Also, what can and will be done to improve the effectiveness of CAI Review Update Since Jon Krakauer didn't not allow Greg Mortenson to respond to the allegations. I am providing a voice for Greg here, by providing the following links to the CAI website. Here are some examples. Greg will began to pay for his own travel expenses beginning Jan 2011, Explanations on why some schools are not in use, why he needs to use chartered flights. All of these are fairly legitimate reasons, that Jon has ignored. All of this information is on the Central Asia Institute website. I have attempted to post the links here but Amazon strips out my web links. Note the use of (dot) in the links 1. Financials - Income Tax Filings ikat.org/about-cai/financials 2. Greg Mortenson's Response to 60 minutes/ jon Krakauer's Questions and other allegations. library.constantcontact.com/download/get/file/1102268008687-139/Q&A_from_Spring_JOH_051011(dot)pdf library.constantcontact.com/download/get/file/1102268008687-139/Q%26A_from_Spring_JOH_051011(dot)pdf ikat.org/wp-includes/documents/CAI4-25-11Release.pdf ikat.org/wp-includes/documents/gmresponse.pdf Update 11-Jan 15 Into the Wild - Is Jon Krakauer's Best Seller Non Fiction? Here is an interesting article that highlights the fictional liberties that JK took while writing his non fictional best seller "Into the Wild". They seem to be much more significant than what is written in Three Cups of Tea. Is is also interesting that any attempts JK makes into doing any sort of scientific research on how the main character died have been debunked. Meanwhile CAI is struggling to keep schools funded w/ because of the drop off in donations since Three Cups of Deceit was written. Update: July 4, 2019 I encourage everyone who has read "3 Cups of Deceit" or "3 Cups of Tea" to watch the film "3000 Cups of Tea" and ask the question are Jon and 60 Minutes the real cups of deceit. The film is an investigation into the work Greg Mortensen has done with Central Asia Institute to build schools in Pakistan. The film is by Jennifer Jordan, former NPR Journalist and host of "All Things Considered". Jennifer really does her homework by traveling to Pakistan to visit the schools, meet the children and teachers, and the villagers that remember Greg as he stumbled into Korphe, Scott Darsney (Greg's Climbing Partner on K2), board members of CAI, and even attempts to contact Jon and members of the team at 60 minutes.