Three Cups of Tea - Greg Mortenson unabridgedaudiobook

Title: Three Cups of Tea
Authors: Mortenson, Greg; Relin, David Oliver
Narrator: Lawlor, Patrick
Publishers: Tantor 2006 (unabridged audiobook) Viking 2006 (hardcover); Penguin 2007 (paperback);
Source : 11 pristine audio CD\'s.
Quality: Very good.
File Type: mp3
Bit Rate: 48 kB/s

======================
At the time of this writing, June 4, 2008, Three Cups of Tea is #1 on the New York Times bestseller
list among nonfiction paperback. Also, on Amazon, the paperback currently ranks #14 in sales among
all books and has a 5/5 star average rating among 997 reviewers.

\"The first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger. The second time you are an honored
guest. The third time you become family.\" -- Baltistan proverb.

=====================
Do you know anyone who would be willing to sell everything they own and live in their car just
so they could save every dollar for someone else? Greg Mortenson, a great American hero, did just
that when he followed through on his promise to an impoverished Pakistani village to build a school
for its children, and in the process has found himself playing a major role in one of the most
historically and culturally pivotal areas in the world today.

=====================
In THREE CUPS OF TEA: One Man’s Mission to Promote . . . One School at a Time Greg Mortenson,
and acclaimed journalist David Oliver Relin, recount the unlikely journey that led Mortenson from
a failed attempt to climb Pakistan’s K2, the world’s second highest mountain, to successfully
building schools in some of the most remote regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan. By replacing guns
with pencils, rhetoric with reading, Mortenson combines his unique background with his intimate
knowledge of the third-world to fight terrorism with books, not bombs, and successfully bring
education and hope to remote villages in central Asia. THREE CUPS OF TEA is at once an
unforgettable adventure and the inspiring true story of how one man really is changing the world—one
school at a time.

In 1993 Mortenson was descending from his failed attempt to reach the peak of K2. Exhausted
and disoriented, he wandered away from his group into the most desolate reaches of northern Pakistan.
Alone, without food, water, or shelter he eventually stumbled into an impoverished Pakistani village
where he was nursed back to health.

While recovering he observed the village’s 84 children sitting outdoors, scratching their
lessons in the dirt with sticks. The village was so poor that it could not afford the $1-a-day salary
to hire a teacher. When he left the village, he promised that he would return to build them a school.

From that rash, heartfelt promise grew one of the most incredible humanitarian campaigns of
our time: Greg Mortenson’s one-man mission to counteract extremism and terrorism by building
schools—especially for girls—throughout the breeding ground of the Taliban.

Mortenson had no reason to believe he could fulfill his promise. In an early effort to raise
money he wrote letters to 580 celebrities, businessmen, and other prominent Americans. His only
reply was a $100 check from NBC’s Tom Brokaw. Selling everything he owned, he still only raised
$2,000. But his luck began to change when a group of elementary school children in River Falls,
Wisconsin, donated $623 in pennies, thereby inspiring adults to take his cause more seriously. Twelve
years later he’s built fifty-five schools.

Mortenson and award-winning journalist David Oliver Relin have written a spellbinding account
of his incredible accomplishments in a region where Americans are feared and hated. In pursuit of
his goal, Mortenson has survived an armed kidnapping, fatwas issued by enraged mullahs, repeated
death threats, and wrenching separations from his wife and children. Yet his success speaks for
itself. This year the schools will educate 24,000 children.


About the Authors:

Greg Mortenson, is the director of the Central Asia Institute. A resident of Montana, he spends several
months each year in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

David Oliver Relin is a contributing editor for Parade Magazine and Skiing Magazine. He has won more
than forty national awards for his work as a writer and editor.

========================
Comments:

\"Three Cups of Tea is one of the most remarkable adventure stories of our time. Greg Mortenson\'s
dangerous and difficult quest to build schools in the wildest parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan is not
only a thrilling read, it\'s proof that one ordinary person, with the right combination of character
and determination, really can change the world.\"
-Tom Brokaw

\"Greg Mortenson represents the best of America. He\'s my hero. And after you read Three Cups of Tea,
he\'ll be your hero, too.\"
-U.S. Representative Mary Bono (R-Calif.)

\"Three Cups of Tea is beautifully written. It is also a critically important book at this time in history.
The governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan are both failing their students on a massive scale. The work
Mortenson is doing, providing the poorest students with a balanced education, is making them much more
difficult for the extremist madrassas to recruit.\"
-Ahmed Rashid, best-selling author of \"Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil, and Fundamentalism in Central Asia\"

\"A stunningly simple story of how to make peace\" -Bloomsbury Review

\"Fascinating...one only hopes U.S. policymakers read Mortenson\'s book\" -Philadelphia Inquirer

\"Astonishing tale of compassion - and of promise kept\" -Time Magazine Asia Book of the Year

\"Laced with drama, danger, romance, and good deeds\" -Christian Science Monitor

=======================
Awards:

Kiriyama Prize - Nonfiction Award
Time Magazine - Asia Book of The Year
Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association - Nonfiction Award
Borders Bookstore - Original Voices Selection
Banff Mountain Festival - Book Award Finalist
Montana Honor Book Award

=======================
Web Sites:

http://www.threecupsoftea.com/
http://www.tantor.com/BookDetail.asp?Product=0251_ThreeCups