‘Three Cups of Tea’ Author Under Fire

Following a CBS “60 Minutes” report that found factual errors in the best-selling book, “Three Cups of Tea,” author Greg Mortenson and his charitable work in Afghanistan and Pakistan have come under fire. In the book, Mortenson writes about stumbling into a tiny village in northeastern Pakistan and coming across a group of schoolchildren doing their lessons with sticks and dirt. It was then, he writes, that he discovered his passion to build schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan. But “60 Minutes'” producers found factual errors in the book and suggest that Mortenson’s charity may be spending money poorly and exaggerating their accomplishments. Mortenson is denying the allegations. We talk with Patrik Henry Bass, senior editor of Essence magazine, about the history of partially fabricated memoirs.