Tracy Kidder graduated from Harvard and studied at the University of Iowa. He has won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, the Robert F. Kennedy Award, and many other literary prizes. The author of Mountains Beyond Mountains, My Detachment, Home Town, Old Friends, Among Schoolchildren, House, and The Soul of a New Machine, Kidder lives in Massachusetts and Maine.
“[A] masterpiece . . . an astonishing book that will leave
you questioning your own life and political views . . . Kidder
opens a window into Farmer’s soul, letting the reader peek in and
see what truly makes the good doctor tick.”—Nicholas Thomas, USA
Today
“A true-to-life fairy tale, one that inspires you to believe in
happy endings . . . Its stark sense of reality comes as much from
the grit between the pages as from the pure gold those pages
spin.”—Laura Claridge, Boston Sunday Globe
“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.”—John Wilkens, The
San Diego Union-Tribune
“Easily the most fascinating, most entertaining and, yes, most
inspiring work of nonfiction I’ve read this year.”—Charles
Matthews, San Jose Mercury News
“It’ll fill you equally with wonder and hope.”—Cathy Burke,
People
“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
"[A] masterpiece . . . an astonishing book that will leave you
questioning your own life and political views . . . Kidder opens a
window into Farmer's soul, letting the reader peek in and see what
truly makes the good doctor tick."-Nicholas Thomas, USA
Today
"A true-to-life fairy tale, one that inspires you to believe in
happy endings . . . Its stark sense of reality comes as much from
the grit between the pages as from the pure gold those pages
spin."-Laura Claridge, Boston Sunday Globe
"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."-John Wilkens,
The San Diego Union-Tribune
"Easily the most fascinating, most entertaining and, yes, most
inspiring work of nonfiction I've read this year."-Charles
Matthews, San Jose Mercury News
"It'll fill you equally with wonder and hope."-Cathy Burke,
People
"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
Gr 7-10-An adaptation of the 2003 adult book with the same title. It is an admiring biography constructed from long stretches of personal experience with Farmer, international health specialist and infectious disease expert, whose focus was always the Haitian poor. Farmer has spent his life taking modern medicine (as well as schools, houses, sanitation, and water systems) to a poverty-stricken area of Haiti and to underdogs around the world. Lending "a voice to the voiceless," and working as a clinician as well as an organizer, he developed Partners in Health, funded first by a Boston philanthropist and later by the Gates Foundation and now internationally active. While French's adaptation follows the same sequencing, his compression removes much of the detail that made the original so readable and interesting. Omissions make episodes difficult to understand and, at least in one case, a description of one character is applied to another. Still, books showing how one person can make a difference are always welcome in young adult literature and this one will be appreciated where the young readers' edition of Greg Mortensen and David Oliver Relin's Three Cups of Tea (Dial, 2009) has been popular. But for the full flavor of the man's life and his impact on the author, older readers should seek out the original.-Kathleen Isaacs, Children's Literature Specialist, Pasadena, MD (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Pulitzer Prize winner Kidder delivers this remarkable account of the life and times of Paul Farmer-a doctor and Harvard professor-who has made it his life's work to cure highly infectious diseases and help people in the poorest areas of the world. Narrator Lincoln Hoppe offers a steady reading that is slow and subdued. While the source material can be intense at times, Hoppe reads as if listeners won't fully understand the gravity of the story. The result is a somewhat underwhelming performance of an inspiring tale. Ages 12-up. A Delacorte hardcover. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
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