Product Description
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.”From the Hardcover edition.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 228 reviews)

Birth control in Haiti should be an obsession, not an afterthought by Paula L. Craig (Falls Church, VA United States)

3 Stars
October 15, 2009
Farmer is clearly doing great things in Haiti. I admire Farmer for his dedication and skill. However, I came away from the book with the strong feeling that even if Farmer had five times the resources he now has, Haiti overall would be worse off in three years than it is now. Farmer is treating the symptoms, not the disease. Haiti is already short of food, to the extent where food riots are nothing unusual. Haiti's land is badly eroded and deforested, with agriculture suffering as a result. The simple fact is that sustainable population of Haiti over the long term is probably no more than 1/3 of the present population. Kidder mentions that Farmer's clinic provides birth control when it is requested by patients, but it is clearly not Farmer's main interest. If there is to be any chance at all of Haiti becoming able to feed itself, birth control needs to go from being an afterthought to being an obsession. Kidder's book doesn't mention peak oil, but it should. Much of the food keeping the Haitian people alive is produced using fertilizer produced from natural gas, with tractors powered by diesel, and transported using fossil fuel-powered trucks and ships. These fuels are already in short supply and likely to become more so in the next few years. If you think conditions in Haiti are bad now, wait and see what it's like when the Haitian population has increased by 10% and the price of food has doubled. Farmer's clinic may well be like trying to hold back the ocean with a syringe. For more on this, see Eating Fossil Fuels: Oil, Food and the Coming Crisis in Agriculture.

"Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul " by Margaret Bailey (Rochester, New York)

5 Stars
October 14, 2009
I found this to be one of the best and most powerful books that I have read in a very long time. I encourage everyone to read it as it will further open your heart, your mind and your awareness of the pressing need for international public health responses to Haiti and other third world countries.

Mountains Beyond Mountains by Joan A. Sullivan (Ashburn, VA, USA)

5 Stars
October 05, 2009
One ofthe best books I've ever read. Very inspiring. But left me feeling that my own life has only been half lived and selfish. Thank God for humans like Paul Farmer

Mountains Beyond Mountains by Gordon Bennett

5 Stars
October 02, 2009
"Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World" is a deeply inspiring book by Tracy Kidder, an award-winning nonfiction specialist. Dr. Paul Farmer, a Harvard-educated doctor with a over-sized compassionate heart, decided to give his medical skills and his life to "the poorest of the poor" and created a health-support system on the central plain in Haiti. Over the years this project turned into a foundation, "Partners in Health," that suports his medical work in Haiti, Colombia, and several other locations. Kidder's narrative reads well and highlights the man and his mission, his outstanding medical skills and research into preventing the spread of TB in third-world environments, and even his idiosyncracies. For example, this doctor makes house calls when his Haitian patients are living in villages that require a 20-mile walk to access their homes! This wonderful story renews the human spirit: it is possible that one person can make a huge difference in people's lives! I bought a discounted copy from Amazon which arrived in excellent condition!

great book! by R. Leonard (seabring fl)

5 Stars
September 04, 2009
This book will renew your faith in humanity and awaken your to the suffering in the world - I personnaly spent several months in Haiti in 95 - 96 and can commiserate with the suffering of the nation!

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