From the Hardcover Edition. --
This compelling and inspiring book, now in a
deluxe paperback edition, shows how one person can work wonders. In Mountains
Beyond Mountains, Pulitzer Prize—winning author Tracy Kidder tells the true
story of a gifted man who loves the world and has set out to do all he can to
cure it.
In medical school, Paul Farmer found his life’s calling: to
cure infectious diseases and to bring the lifesaving tools of modern medicine to
those who need them most. Kidder’s magnificent account 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.” 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 a force of gathering
revelation,” says Annie Dillard, and Jonathan Harr notes, “[Paul Farmer] wants
to change the world. Certainly this luminous and powerful book will change the
way you see it.” From the Inside Flap 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.
“[A] masterpiece.”—USA Today
“Inspiring, disturbing, daring and completely
absorbing.”—New York Times Book Review
“Stunning. Mountains Beyond Mountains will move you,
restore your faith in the ability of one person to make a difference in these
increasingly maddening, dispiriting times. [Kidder has] held his writer’s mirror
up to an astonishing comet of a man whose reflection flatters us all for what it
says about our capacity for mercy and healing.”—San Diego Union-Tribune
“Easily the most fascinating, most entertaining and,
yes, most inspiring work of non-fiction I’ve read this year.”—San Jose Mercury
News
“It’ll fill you equally with wonder and hope.”—People
“If I ever go on a retreat again, this is the kind of
book I’d like to take for spiritual reading. . . . [Kidder] knows it is
impossible to live like Farmer, but the impossibility is the very thing that can
somehow give us life.”—Washington Post Book World
“In this excellent work, Pulitzer Prize—winner Kidder
immerses himself in and beautifully explores the rich drama that exists in the
life of Dr. Paul Farmer…Throughout, Kidder captures the almost saintly effect
Farmer has on those whom he treats.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review
“[A] Skilled and graceful exploration of the soul of
an astonishing human being.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“A fine writer and his extraordinary subject: Tracy
Kidder, in giving us Paul Farmer, lifts up an image of hope–and challenge–that
the world urgently needs. Simply put, this is an important book.” -James
Carroll, author of Constantine's Sword
“The central character of this marvelous book is one
of the most provocative, brilliant, funny, unsettling, endlessly energetic,
irksome, and charming characters ever to spring to life on the page. He has
embarked on an epic struggle that will take you from the halls of Harvard
Medical School to a sun-scorched plateau in Haiti, from the slums of Peru to the
cold gray prisons of Moscow. He wants to change the world. Certainly this
luminous and powerful book will change the way you see it.”—Jonathan Harr,
author of A Civil Action
“A profoundly inspiring and important book about one
of the truly great men of our time.” —Ethan Canin, author of Carry Me Across the
Water
“Here is a genuine hero alive in our times. Mountains
Beyond Mountains unfolds with the force of gathering revelation. Like all of
Tracy Kidder’s books, it is as hard to put down as any good and true
story.”—Annie Dillard, author of The Writing Life
“Mountains Beyond Mountains is the only book I’ve read
in years that made me feel like cheering. It left me uncomfortable, guilty, and
exhausted—but it also inspired me, kept me up all night, and moved me to tears.
Some readers will find their lives changed forever; everyone else will emerge,
at the very least, with an unexpectedly revised set of values. Tracy Kidder has
given us not only an unforgettable book but an unignorable life lesson. Hurrah!”
—Anne Fadiman, author of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down
“Rarely has idealism fared so well on the planet as in
Tracy Kidder’s eloquently reported Mountains Beyond Mountains. One is tempted to
call Paul Farmer’s passionate sensibilities and loving ambitions otherworldly,
but only in sadness that there are too few of him in the world. Kidder has
provided us all, as the Farmerites say, with a road map to decency, and such an
endowment is beyond measure.” —Bob Shacochis, author of Easy in the Islands
"Is there anything Tracy Kidder can't do? This is a
beautiful book, and a masterful one. Even better, Mountains Beyond Mountains is
a page-turner that will crack your conscience open." -Stacey Schiff, author of
Vera
“An incredible story about an incredible man told by
an incredible writer. Mountains Beyond Mountains is the sort of book that makes
you want to buy a hundred copies and pass them out like a street corner
evangelist. It's the sort of book that will affect your life in a profound way.
In a good way.” -Thom Jones, author of The Pugilist at Rest
“Saints are notoriously difficult people, but who knew
one could be so funny, so utterly charming, and finally so deft in accomplishing
that most impossible of all job descriptions—changing the world? Tracy Kidder's
spellbinding story presents us with an unlikely saint and finally, with
inspiration so compelling it makes the usual cynicism about global change seem
indulgent foolishness.”—Patricia Hampl, author of A Romantic Education Review
“In this excellent work,
Pulitzer Prize—winner Kidder immerses himself in and beautifully explores the
rich drama that exists in the life of Dr. Paul Farmer…Throughout, Kidder
captures the almost saintly effect Farmer has on those whom he treats.”
-Publisher’s Weekly, starred review