Another Million Little Pieces?

DonnaL
Mon, 18 Apr 2011 23:45:01 +0000

Speaking as a completely neutral observer who knows little or nothing about this, Mortenson’s statement sounds like double-talk. I’d be far more likely to trust Jon Krakauer:



The first eight chapters of Three Cups of Tea are an
intricately wrought work of fiction presented as fact. And by
no means was this an isolated act of deceit. It turns out that
Mortenson’s books and public statements are permeated with
falsehoods. The image of Mortenson that has been created
for public consumption is an artifact born of fantasy, audacity,
and an apparently insatiable hunger for esteem. Mortenson
has lied about the noble deeds he has done, the risks
he has taken, the people he has met, the number of schools
he has built. Three Cups of Tea has much in common with A
Million Little Pieces, the infamous autobiography by James
Frey that was exposed as a sham. But Frey, unlike Mortenson,
didn’t use his phony memoir to solicit tens of millions
of dollars in donations from unsuspecting readers, myself
among them. Moreover, Mortenson’s charity, the Central
Asia Institute, has issued fraudulent financial statements, and
he has misused millions of dollars donated by schoolchildren
and other trusting devotees. “Greg,” says a former treasurer
of the organization’s board of directors, “regards CAI as his
personal ATM.”