Synopsis
Dr. Paul Farmer of Massachusetts began working in Haiti in 1982, providing health care for peasants who can't afford doctors to treat the diseases that are rampant there, including TB. In 1993 Farmer was given a MacArthur Foundation "genius grant," which he has used to further his work in Haiti. Tracy Kidder followed Farmer on his rounds and on his fundraising travels around the world, and he tells Farmer's story with the same zeal he brought to his Pulitzer Prize-winning THE SOUL OF A NEW MACHINE. A New York Times Notable Book for 2003.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 2003-09-01 |
| Size | | Length: | 317 pages | | Height: | 9.5 in | | Width: | 6.8 in | | Thickness: | 1.5 in | | Weight: | 20.0 oz |
Publisher's Note
Tracy Kidder is a winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the author of the bestsellers The Soul of a New Machine, House, Among Schoolchildren, and Home Town. He has been described by the Baltimore Sun as the “master of the non-fiction narrative.” This powerful and inspiring new book shows how one person can make a difference, as Kidder tells the true story of a gifted man who is in love with the world and has set out to do all he can to cure it.
At the center of Mountains Beyond Mountains stands Paul Farmer. Doctor, Harvard professor, renowned infectious-disease specialist, anthropologist, the recipient of a MacArthur “genius” grant, world-class Robin Hood, Farmer was brought up in a bus and on a boat, and in medical school found his life’s calling: to diagnose and cure infectious diseases and to bring the lifesaving tools of modern medicine to those who need them most. This magnificent book shows how radical change can be fostered in situations that seem insurmountable, and it also shows how a meaningful life can be created, as Farmer—brilliant, charismatic, charming, both a leader in international health and a doctor who finds time to make house calls in Boston and the mountains of Haiti—blasts through convention to get results.
Mountains Beyond Mountains takes us from Harvard to Haiti, Peru, Cuba, and Russia as Farmer changes minds and practices through his dedication to the philosophy that "the only real nation is humanity" - a philosophy that is embodied in the small public charity he founded, Partners In Health. He enlists the help of the Gates Foundation, George Soros, the U.N.’s World Health Organization, and others in his quest to cure the world. At the heart of this book is the example of a life based on hope, and on an understanding of the truth of the Haitian proverb “Beyond mountains there are mountains”: as you solve one problem, another problem presents itself, and so you go on and try to solve that one too.
“Mountains Beyond Mountains unfolds with the force of a gathering revelation,” says Annie Dillard, and Jonathan Harr says, “[Farmer] wants to change the world. Certainly this luminous and powerful book will change the way you see it.”
Industry Reviews
"MOUNTAINS BEYOND MOUNTAINS is inspiring, disturbing, daring and completely absorbing. It will rattle our complacency; it will prick our conscience."
New York Times Book Review - Abraham Verghese (09/14/2003)
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