Featured Author Event: Dave Eggers (Washington, D.C.)
February 12, 2018
From bestselling author Dave Eggers comes the incredible true story of a young Yemeni American man, raised in San Francisco, who dreams of resurrecting the ancient art of Yemeni coffee but finds himself trapped in Sana’a by civil war. Enjoy an evening with Dave Eggers as he discusses his latest book, THE MONK OF MOKHA (Knopf), on February 13 with Politics & Prose at Sixth & I in Washington, D.C. The discussion, beginning at 6:00 p.m., will be followed by a book signing.

A Book about Coffee? Dave Eggers and Mokhtar Alkhanshali Spill the Beans
January 29, 2018
Our latest Igloo Book Buzz selection is THE MONK OF MOKHA by bestselling author Dave Eggers. Published by Knopf, this book tells the remarkable true story of Mokhtar Alkhanshali, a young Yemeni American man, raised in San Francisco, who dreams of resurrecting the ancient art of Yemeni coffee but finds himself trapped in Sana’a by civil war.

Credit: Jeremy Stern[/caption] DE: I had my first cup of coffee when I was 35. My wife and I were new parents and sleep was elusive, so to stay awake and have even a little acuity, I needed a new source of caffeine—Diet Mountain Dew wasn’t working anymore. I will say that when you come to coffee relatively late in life, it has an otherworldly kick. But Mokhtar taught me how to appreciate coffee as more than a caffeine-delivery tool. MA: I didn’t drink coffee much, mainly because the only coffee I was exposed to was cheap diner coffee that tasted like burnt popcorn. I thought coffee was too dark and bitter. One day I walked into a specialty coffee shop and had a cup of naturally processed coffee from Ethiopia’s Yirgacheffe region. I tasted blueberries, honeysuckle and it had a sweet lingering after taste. 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. That part of it really became my entry point to the world of coffee. Mokhtar, you discovered your family’s connection to coffee, and the Yemeni connection to coffee, when you were in your early twenties. What possessed you to actually go to Yemen and re-invent yourself as a coffee importer? MA: That’s a question that a lot of people ask me. In many ways, I’m still trying to figure it out myself. To be honest, I didn’t have a master plan, I just felt there was a disconnect between Yemen and the world of coffee and I believed I could be that bridge. Looking back, I don’t know if I would have gone on this journey knowing all of the things I’d have to learn and go through. I was naïvely arrogant. Dave, as a relative newcomer to the coffee world, what was the research like for THE MONK OF MOKHA?

Friday Reads: Genius!
January 11, 2018
“Genius” is a word bandied about in the common vernacular, but just what, or who, is an actual “genius”? Has the word lost meaning? According to our keyword search, it’s a pretty popular one to include in book titles, and the meaning isn’t just limited to someone who staggers others with the power of their intellect.
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