Tempest in a Tea Cup

Posted by Laura McCulloch on April 19th, 2011 at 07:15 AM | | Tweet

Remember back when James Frey exploded into A Million Little Pieces? Well the teapot has just boiled over for Mr. Mortenson.

Three Cups of Tea author Greg Mortenson is under fire this week for allegedly perpetrating an elaborate literary hoax and mismanaging his non-profit, Central Asia Institute. 60 Minutes ran an investigative piece in which it was revealed that many of the facts in Mortenson’s best-seller were exaggerated at best, and at worst fabricated entirely. Steve Kroft and the 60 Minutes team also looks at CAI and questions its financials and sloppy operations. Author Jon Krakauer, a former supporter of Mortenson and CAI, was interviewed for the 60 Minutes piece and then on Monday published a scathing article on byliner.com, which you can download for free at the link below. Mortenson gave an interview to Outside magazine offering up his response to the accusations.

More will be revealed as Mortenson’s publisher, Viking, has announced that it will engage in a book review with the author. Huh? What? Don’t they do that sort of thing BEFORE they publish? Aren’t there fact-checkers on staff? Or is this book “creative non-fiction”?

Remember back when James Frey exploded into A Million Little Pieces? Well the teapot has just boiled over for Mr. Mortenson.

Krakauer article on byliner.com

Mortenson interview with Outside magazine

60 Minutes