Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World

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Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World

4.2 of 5 stars 4.20 · rating details · 29,062 ratings · 3,212 reviews

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...more 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.”(less)

Paperback, 333 pages

Published August 31st 2004 by Random House Trade Paperbacks (first published September 9th 2003)

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Sep 06, 2007 Miguel rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: people that can read small small

I am not really sure where to begin when it comes to this book. Let us just say that Tracy Kidder writes a mean biography/account of perhaps one of the most influential people of our (Generation iPod/big box stores) time. This book really encapsulates what I imagine Paul Farmer's credo is; that is to say, fuck the idea of appropriate technology, sustainability and cost-effectiveness this is human suffering that we are flapping our tongues about...get real.

Sheer eloquence I know...

I am sure that...more

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Nov 21, 2007 Meg rated it 1 of 5 stars

Aug 10, 2007 Catherine rated it 3 of 5 stars

I wish I had known. Paul Farmer, the subject of this book's adoration, spoke at Columbia's commencement ceremony this past May. At that time, I had never heard of him. If I had known, I would have gone and been able to see first-hand who he is.
"Mountains Beyond Mountains" is neither biography nor non-fiction, but is more a commentary on the author's time spent with Dr. Paul Farmer. It briefly browses through his life story: very unusual upbringing, extremely well-educated genius, quirky but char...more I wish I had known. Paul Farmer, the subject of this book's adoration, spoke at Columbia's commencement ceremony this past May. At that time, I had never heard of him. If I had known, I would have gone and been able to see first-hand who he is.
"Mountains Beyond Mountains" is neither biography nor non-fiction, but is more a commentary on the author's time spent with Dr. Paul Farmer. It briefly browses through his life story: very unusual upbringing, extremely well-educated genius, quirky but charismatic personality. It also browses through each of the projects Dr. Farmer has been involved in: TB and later AIDS in central Haiti, TB in Peru and Russia.
Like too many quasi-biographies I've read, this one glorifies its subject while simultaneously de-personifying him. I have no idea what Dr. Paul Farmer is really like, but now at least I can imagine that he's a heroic, driven, relentless, brilliant, caring, wonderful doctor and advocate for the poor around the world. The author may want us to believe that Farmer is completely selfless, and perhaps he is, but I must admit that in his appearance, personality, and actions, the description of Farmer in this book reminded me most of Ayn Rand's perfect, ideal egoist hero. I wish I could know what he is really like, because people like the man idolized by this book don't exist.
Perhaps I should have read this by choice instead of because it was assigned. Perhaps I should have read it before spending two months in Guatemala instead of after. Perhaps I should have read it in a single afternoon (which is perfectly feasible - it's a decent read) instead of spread over 10 days. But I just couldn't get into it because I felt the whole time that I was being sold a vision that I don't share. Whatever problems there may be with world-wide health, a lot more could be accomplished by everyone doing a little than by one man driving himself beyond all reasonable limits.
My overall view: an interesting narrative of Dr. Farmer and his ideas and work around the world, but not one that I'd choose to read again for fun(less)

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Aug 26, 2007 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars

For anyone who yearns to "make a difference" but feels overwhelmed at where to start, this book will inspire you, maybe even shock you. Doctor Paul Farmer decided at the age of 23 to devote his life to treating the poor. He established a clinic in one of the most impoverished parts of Haiti called Zanmi Lasante. Over the next twenty years, he treated not just the poor in Haiti, but expanded to treat the poor in Peru and prisoners in Russia, leading efforts to address "impossible" diseases like m...more For anyone who yearns to "make a difference" but feels overwhelmed at where to start, this book will inspire you, maybe even shock you. Doctor Paul Farmer decided at the age of 23 to devote his life to treating the poor. He established a clinic in one of the most impoverished parts of Haiti called Zanmi Lasante. Over the next twenty years, he treated not just the poor in Haiti, but expanded to treat the poor in Peru and prisoners in Russia, leading efforts to address "impossible" diseases like multi-drug resistant TB and AIDS. His attitude from the beginning has been "the current way's not working. I'll do it my way." When he first encountered the corrupt and ill-run Haitian clinics, he decided, "I'm going to build my own fucking hospital. And there'll be none of that there, thank you." At an international AIDS conference in South Africa where a banker commented that Africans must learn to curb their sexual appetites, Farmer responded, "I want to talk about other bankers, not the World Bankers, but bankers in general. My suspicion is they're not getting a lot of sex, because they spend a lot of time screwing the poor"
Farmer allows one to believe that one can "follow one's heart" AND be effective. Of course, he had more than ideals. He also has a medical degree from Harvard and a level of commitment few of us can even imagine. He still makes house calls to the poor in Haiti, trekking for hours up and down mountains. He loves Lord of the Rings and maybe this is what inspires him! But now, vivified in this book, he's a symbol to inspire others. There's so much to take away from his story. For me, it speaks largely to the power of purpose and a commitment to action in the name of that purpose. Ignoring those who would question and discourage, the "Are you sure that's a good idea?" questions and trust one's inner bidding. We are all so well-trained in being cynical, in doubting. But if we want change, we have to bring something of our own to the table to believe in. And start focusing our energy on that, not on the crap that already exists that we don't like. Farmer has done that and it's really, really worked. (less)

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Jan 25, 2008 bruin rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: health, sustainability

in my opinion our construction of heroes in this world leaves a lot to be desired. and while paul farmer might indeed being doing incredible work with an incredible attitude/perspective, i tired quickly of this book's idolation and unquestioning worship.

this is *not* how we will create more heroes among ourselves and others. this is precisely how people like dr. king have been removed from the people and pedastalized to the detriment of our movements and our visions for change.

get a grip tracy...more

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Apr 27, 2008 Rose rated it 3 of 5 stars

Mountains Beyond Mountains is a biography of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Harvard educated physician who, in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds, set out to bring life-saving, 'first-world' medical practices to the desperately poor in rural Haiti. This book has almost become essential reading for those who have even the most cursory interest in fields often referred to as global health, social medicine, or public health.

Paul Farmer is a unique doctor who seems genuinely called to a life of service t...more Mountains Beyond Mountains is a biography of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Harvard educated physician who, in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds, set out to bring life-saving, 'first-world' medical practices to the desperately poor in rural Haiti. This book has almost become essential reading for those who have even the most cursory interest in fields often referred to as global health, social medicine, or public health.

Paul Farmer is a unique doctor who seems genuinely called to a life of service to the poor. He grew up in an unusual family and environment and is undoubtedly a brilliant man. While an undergrad at Duke he first visited Haiti and this experience changed him profoundly. During medical school at Harvard, he spent half his time working in a clinic on the island. Later, he had the good fortune to meet a Boston millionaire who, over the course of a couple decades, has given nearly his whole savings to Farmer to use in Haiti and various other countries where Farmer's organization, Partners in Health (PIH), sponsors community medical projects. He was also surrounded by several close friends who have also dedicated their lives to Paul and his vision (one of whom was Ophelia Dahl, daughter of British author Roald Dahl, who plays a fascinating part in the story; I wish the book told us more about her).

I think a reader can safely say that Farmer is a visionary. He saw the shocking state of healthcare in rural Haiti and dreamed of raising the standard of care in that area. Since then, he has devoted his life to building a sustainable healthcare network in the Cange and erradicating the area of infectious diseases long since cured in the first world. Haitians hardly experience an equitable standard of care to what we have in the United States, and perhaps never will, but this hasn't stopped Farmer from trying. For example, the most rampant infectious disease in the Cange was tuberculosis (TB), which was expensive to treat because of a low supply of pricey first-line drugs. The drug companies didn't make many of these drugs because there was little to no demand for them by those who could afford to pay. Farmer and PIH worked to convince the drug companies to increase the supply and drop the prices, while simultaneously convincing the World Health Organization (WHO) to purchase and distribute the supply and treat those in impoverished countries who were suffering from a treatable disease. This was no easy task, but PIH proved to the world that it is possible to successfully provide the poor with quality medical care.

The book is painfully long but, I think, ultimately worth the struggle. I applaud the author, Pulitzer Prize winner Tracy Kidder, for taking on such an enormous subject. The book breaks down medical terminology and practice, while also tackling some pretty enormous political and social issues. And as if that were not enough, Farmer himself is a larger-than-life character. Half the time I can't tell if Kidder loves him or loathes him, and Kidder himself probably doesn't even know. Farmer's life is inspiring because he has accomplished so much in very little time. But at the same time, the man is no saint, despite the fact that people regularly call him such to his face. He is absolutely infuriating. He seems to have an answer to everything. At one point, Kidder writes several pages about the "language" of PIH, which incorporates unique acronyms, words, and made-up phrases. Kidder explains that one "could hang around the inner circle of PIH for a long time without understanding what the rules were and feeling excluded" (Kidder 217). Famer responds that "'If so, it's surely the most inclusive damn club in the world, being full of people with AIDS, WL's galore, tons of students, church ladies, lots of patients, and it's a club that grows and never shrinks" (217). Sure, Farmer has a memorable response ready, but it's total bullshit. If you weren't in PIH, you wouldn't know that "WL's" stands for "white liberals," a group upon which he reluctantly relies for funding and regularly mocks. Farmer preaches humility, but says things like "Every account is partial [...] except mine" (252).

What seems most tricky about Paul Farmer, however, is that his model for building PIH and creating large-scale community health projects is not replicable, but he has become one of world's most sought-after experts in global health. What I mean is that, when starting PIH, Farmer happened to have a non-restricted, ready supply of cash from a generous private donor, a truly rare situation for a non-profit start-up company with no established organizational structure. When the money ran out, he stole medical supplies from Boston's most wealthy hospitals. He literally stole hundreds of thousands of dollars in medications. For a good cause? Sure. What this proves is that sometimes the people with power don't need a little push, but need to be shoved off a cliff, to make the world change. But how can someone who built a medical treatment program around theft lecture others on building sustainable global health projects? I'm sure Farmer would have a memorable response to my complaint, something that made me feel like a real jerk and used some cryptic acronyms to make me feel excluded from his inner circle. But these complexities are what make him so provocative and, thus, the subject of a biography worth reading.(less)

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Jan 12, 2008 Osho rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2007

+ Satisfying tone and pace, an uplifting and far-flung narrative
- Nothing substantive to critique

Highly readable and very satisfying, this is, to the best of my knowledge, the first of Kidder's books in which he appears other than as a distanced narrator. While House and The Soul of a New Machine were certainly very enjoyable, Mountains beyond Mountains is simply engrossing. This is due not only to its subject, the eccentric, opinionated, and deeply generous Dr. Paul Farmer, but also to Kidder's...more + Satisfying tone and pace, an uplifting and far-flung narrative
- Nothing substantive to critique

Highly readable and very satisfying, this is, to the best of my knowledge, the first of Kidder's books in which he appears other than as a distanced narrator. While House and The Soul of a New Machine were certainly very enjoyable, Mountains beyond Mountains is simply engrossing. This is due not only to its subject, the eccentric, opinionated, and deeply generous Dr. Paul Farmer, but also to Kidder's participation as an active player. Given the subject (poverty, disease, and class bias), Kidder's vulnerability, sometimes-irritation with Farmer, and willingness to slog over Haitian mountains hour after hour to visit patients with him lend the narrative a personal immediacy that is both consonant with those foci and serves as an enactment of the effects of Farmer's works: The event may be a world AIDS conference with global implications, and Kidder reports both the unfolding medical policy decisions and his concern about having offended Farmer with an offhand remark.

Farmer is a character, and Kidder gives the reader ample opportunity to see his many facets: Brillian intellectual, maddening boss, odd duck, lovable eccentric, annoying narcissist, and others. Farmer is a man with a vision, one with an admirable talent for sitting down and whipping out such seminal works as Infections and Inequalities and Pathologies of Power: Health, Human Rights, and the New War on the Poor in record time. Clearly deeply committed to his work and to humanity, Farmer seems like a hard person to live with, and I admire both his deeds and the people committed to supporting him in them.

Central to Farmer's work, and hence to Kidder's narrative, is the question of triage: How are resources allocated? Who is first in line? To what extent should affluent nations provide external (non-sustainable) resources for poor nations? Less well-treated, but amply alluded to, is the question of the balance between indigenous and Western allopathic medical practices. In this regard, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures is an excellent companion piece. I will be re-reading and reviewing it shortly.

Kidder's voice, self-reflection, and observations here were sufficient to make me buy his next book, My Detachment: A Memoir, which treats Kidder's Vietnam service.
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Jul 08, 2007 Anna rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is required reading for all PC health volunteers. Just remember “If Paul is the standard, we are all fucked.” Farmer is a doctor working in rural Haiti, a land that many have forgotten and others are willfully ignoring. Tracy Kidder is a journalist who runs across Farmer while on assignment covering the political turmoil of Haiti in 1994. Kidder unexpectedly finds a man many would call (and have called) a saint. A enigmatic figure in jeans and a black shirt, Paul Farmer has taken on crippli...more This is required reading for all PC health volunteers. Just remember “If Paul is the standard, we are all fucked.” Farmer is a doctor working in rural Haiti, a land that many have forgotten and others are willfully ignoring. Tracy Kidder is a journalist who runs across Farmer while on assignment covering the political turmoil of Haiti in 1994. Kidder unexpectedly finds a man many would call (and have called) a saint. A enigmatic figure in jeans and a black shirt, Paul Farmer has taken on crippling rural poverty, institutionalized racism (or classism), TB and HIV and largely won. By focusing on the individual patient and with a clear understanding that the poor deserve no less than the rich, he has surpassed every expectation of what can be accomplished.
A TB patient stops his treatment. Instead of trusting the axiom that the poor believe they are cured once the symptoms stop, he investigates deeper to find their family was starving. TB medication is important, but feeding your children will always be a priority. Faced with a new challenge, he decided to treat the malnutrition by providing food for the families of his patients, and went further to provide a floor and a roof for their homes, potable water systems to avoid water born illnesses, and basically anything any of his patients asked of him. His methods are far from what we like to call sustainable. What would Farmer say to that? “Fuck You.”
Paul Farmer did not set out to change the world. He just wanted to help people, and he has, millions of them. He did not design his project for imitation or broad appeal. He just viewed every person individually and tried to picture each one as himself. Using this simple method of human decency he has created one of the best clinics in the world, in a country with no health care to speak of and no governmental support. He has moved on to other projects internationally, in Peru, Mexico, and Russia. Lauded by all who know him personally, and attacked by those whose worldview he disturbs.
Tracy Kidder has strong presence in his book. It is the first time, says the reader’s guide, that he has chosen to write in first person narrative. In doing so he allows himself personal bias. He connects us to the characters and gives us a strong sense of how amazing and unique Paul Farmer is. He lets us know its okay to feel annoyed at Farmer for his disregard for the norms. He lets us know its okay to feel guilty for not being able to dedicate our lives so fully to the poor.
Despite having spent the last year working in Public Health, I never really understood it and its global implications until I read this book. For Farmer healthcare for all is a moral imperative. It makes me feel a little bit better about the work I’m doing, while at the same time making me feel like I could never quite do enough.
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Dec 20, 2010 Anna-karin rated it 4 of 5 stars

I find it difficult to describe this book. There is a line in it that says something to the effect of: Don't let perfect get in the way of good. That describes the book as well as the doctor that the book is about. The good that this doctor has brought about and continues to bring about, and the good that the book has brought about by publicizing this, is hard to overestimate. While there are mistakes made by those who are working to bring about good, when we criticize their mistakes and hide ou...more

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Mar 05, 2013 Don Becher rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Book about a fascinating man (Dr. Paul Farmer) in so many respects: his upbringing, his lack of hesitancy as a very young man to pursue his sense of right, his apparent ease in completing medical training while weaving in what he clearly saw as his life's calling.

I cheated on this one and listened to an abridged audio version while I was doing some painting, so I can't be sure this was not explored more in the actual book -- but I was left pondering what drives Farmer (and why am I am not simil...more

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Apr 27, 2008 carrie rated it 4 of 5 stars

If you would like to feel like you are self-centered and haven't accomplished much, read about Doctor Paul. I was going to try to cure Africa of TB, but I just haven't had time lately. I need to meet this guy, if only to hear more stories about growing up on a bus. This book unfolds in a grabbing way, and reads easily despite a telling of facts and events.

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Apr 05, 2009 Cait rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: RPCVs, potential PCV, wanna-be doctors, people who need inspring

Shelves: true-stories-that-are-amazing

I lived on the Dominican Republic/Haiti border for a few years as a child, so the initial description in this book of how Haiti is fucked doesn't come as a surprise. I mean. Just about everything that could possibly go wrong on the road to becoming a self-sustaining country has just been ripped from them. (ASK ME MY FEELINGS ON THE LATEST COUP THERE AGH, AGH, OH MY GOD, AGH.)

Haiti: fucked. CHECK.

The book then goes on to describe the life and training of Paul Farmer. Paul Farmer, who managed to...more I lived on the Dominican Republic/Haiti border for a few years as a child, so the initial description in this book of how Haiti is fucked doesn't come as a surprise. I mean. Just about everything that could possibly go wrong on the road to becoming a self-sustaining country has just been ripped from them. (ASK ME MY FEELINGS ON THE LATEST COUP THERE AGH, AGH, OH MY GOD, AGH.)

Haiti: fucked. CHECK.

The book then goes on to describe the life and training of Paul Farmer. Paul Farmer, who managed to commute to the clinic he was running in rural Haiti while in medical school. On an apparently weekly/monthly/VERY OFTEN basis. As some one who is contemplating medical school- I kind of hope to cook some of my own meals, while studying. Perhaps I will play a game of soccer or two in the four years I spend hunched over textbooks, but my mind is completely blown by the idea of maintaining practical work (in a foreign country) while taking classes (LET ALONE GETTING A PHD CONCURRENTLY). I honestly can hardly wrap my head around it.

Paul Farmer: the kind of great-hearted genius we hold up as an example, but do not actually emulate. CHECK.

(I am coming to terms with the fact that this review is all about me, me, me.) This is the kind of work I want to do, this "preferential option for the poor" that Kidder details in this book. This is absolutely what I want to do, but I reached the half-way point in this book (You know, the point at which this tiny three-person-single-man-funded-non-profit takes on multi-drug resistant TB in Peru.) totally discouraged. Evidently, it takes super-human commitment, brains, understanding, courage, gumption and craziness to take on the worlds' ills. I can't be that person. Honestly, I don't even want to be that person.

That isn't what the book is saying, obviously, but that's absolutely what I was reading. The book goes on to talk about the expansion of the crusade against MDR in Russian prisons, the expansion of the Haitian clinic (now with operating theater!) and it was interesting, if ultimately discouraging. Then I got to this line, where Paul Farmer is frustrated at some student email and says (I'm paraphrasing) "I'm the model for what needs to be done, not for how to do it."

I am really not sure how I managed to miss that, three quarters of the way through the book, but the sigh of relief when I finally, finally figured it out was profound. Of course this isn't the only way to do it. "It" here being leveling the playing field of medicine, or caring for the poor, or being a decent human being in the world, or some combination thereof. But it's important, and it needs to be done, and there's really no excuse for not being part of it.

Mountains Beyond Mountains: Depressing, but wildly inspirational for a wanna-be rural doctor. CHECK.

I finished this book sitting backstage for the dress rehearsal of the show I'm in- and I could hardly go on and talk about atomic energy. It is a book exactly written for me, and this was the exact moment to read it. (less)

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Mar 11, 2008 Erin Sorensen rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book was amazing. Dr. Paul Farmer is my hero. This story really gives you a new perspective, it is very inspiring.

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Jun 22, 2011 Debs rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: book-group, liberal-bias, popular-non-fiction

When companies have to make really hard decisions everyday, they create a protocol to take the emotions out of the process and to focus only on value. When governments do it, it's called collateral damage. Paul Farmer doesn't believe in protocol OR collateral damage. He believes in curing people of curable diseases, no matter where they live, who they are or how much money they have.

I keep trying to think of a metaphor to describe Farmer's drive. Imagine if your house was on fire and all your f...more When companies have to make really hard decisions everyday, they create a protocol to take the emotions out of the process and to focus only on value. When governments do it, it's called collateral damage. Paul Farmer doesn't believe in protocol OR collateral damage. He believes in curing people of curable diseases, no matter where they live, who they are or how much money they have.

I keep trying to think of a metaphor to describe Farmer's drive. Imagine if your house was on fire and all your favorite things and people were inside of it. Paul Farmer operates on that level every single second of every single day, except his house is the third world and his favorite people are the world's poor. He's happy to have the fire department come with their technologies for fire fighting, but he's also happy to literally throw water on the fire bucket by bucket. He is most at peace when walking 4 hours through Haitian tundra to treat one family with a history of tuberculosis.

If you read this and think oh, this book must be just a tremendous guilt trip for the rest of first world humanity - you're right. But Paul Farmer doesn't care. He thinks guilt is good, it's important. If it makes you question privilege, if it makes you uncomfortable with how little you do to eradicate inequality, if it makes you write a check to Partners in Health, that's just fine with him.

It's hard to separate Tracy Kidder's work from the story itself - Paul Farmer is a fascinating character and the work he's done in places like Haiti, in Russian prisons, in Peru is amazing and most health organizations think the work he has done is impossible to replicate. Treating one person at a time. But by the end of the narrative, you'll have bought into Paul's ideology as well.

I do wonder how much the people he loves and who love him suffer for this mission, but the fact that he thinks it would be selfish to even discuss that makes me understand why Kidder doesn't delve too deeply into that.

Paul is frustrating, brilliant, and has more energy and drive than any other human being I have ever met or read about. The book is worth reading for many reasons - why do the poor suffer? how does the first world continue to turn its back on suffering? You'll cry, you'll laugh, you'll feel guilty and most importantly - this book will make you think.

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Nov 27, 2008 Hans rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone who cares about people.

Shelves: inspirational, political

Though I am sure that Dr. Paul Farmer has flaws like the rest of us, he does have something that makes him stand apart, a powerful dedication to others. Certainly there may be ways to criticize this book, either by focusing on the trivial like writing style or the implausibility of replicating what he has done, but the overall message is what is so powerfully compelling. It is more than a story about one man's struggle to make the world better for the less fortunate. It is a reflection and analy...more

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Apr 26, 2008 Mark rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

This is the story of one man’s quest to cure the world. Paul Farmer provides an inspiring way of dealing with the world’s poor and their access to health care. In short, he believes that politics is nothing but medicine practiced on a large scale and if the correct political decisions are made, many of the world’s health problems would either go away or become quite manageable. Farmer backs up his convictions not by just trotting around the globe attending WHO meetings and being a professor at H...more

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Sep 23, 2007 Juliet rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: faves

This was such an engrossing book. I think my response to Paul Farmer was a bit like author Tracy Kidder's - fascinated admiration mixed with a feeling of personal inadequacy leading to a blend of irritated fan worship. How could I ever be like this guy? Isn't he amazing? And liberation theology - wow, what a concept but how does preferential option for the poor work in real life? It seems so "all or nothing." Give up my bread -so to speak- like Farmer, so the poor can eat?

Which ultimately is not...more

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Apr 16, 2007 Mona rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction, life-stories, science-health, social-justice-human-rights

I had to read this book for my political science class on contemporary political issues. The book was part of the section on power. Although I started the book reluctantly, to my surprise I put off my pleasure reading to finish it in three days. The book is nonfiction and tells the story of Paul Farmer, a young doctor and Harvard professor who starts a comprehensive health care system called Zanmi Lasante ("Partners in Health" - also the name of the parent organization based in America) in the C...more

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Sep 11, 2007 Jenna rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone

Shelves: memoir-and-biography

I feel like I didn't really understand this book. Some of the arguments that the book makes (e.g., the argument that "cost-effective" thinking is no good, or the argument that trekking into the mountains to visit individual patients is a better use of Paul Farmer's time than doing health-policy work that could save many more lives) just didn't seem very convincing, as though they wouldn't hold much water if delivered into the talons of a rigorous logician. That being said, this book has had a bi...more

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Jul 15, 2007 Ryan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Great portrait of an inspiring yet complicated man, Paul Farmer, who has a reverential following among many young people interested in global public health. This biography is great (won the Pulitzer Prize in 2003) in part because it presents a more complicated picture of Farmer, where a mere glorification would be easier and possibly better received.

The interesting thing to me is that Paul Farmer's dedication is inspirational, and yet I totally disagree with him on some points - for example, I t...more

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Jul 29, 2007 kevin rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone

Shelves: non-fiction

Haiti is a complex nation with a heroic history often sullied and distorted by former colonial powers. Kidder's book is as much a profile of the struggling communities of Haiti's central plateau as it is a biography of the tireless Doktè Paul Farmer.

Kidder offers a balanced view of Farmer's astonishing work for the reader to honor, question, criticize, and admire without didactic hand-holding. I particularly enjoyed the details of Farmer's day-to-day life. Following the doctor's relentless trave...more

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Jan 14, 2009 Jerjonji rated it 5 of 5 stars

Once in a rare while you read a book that could change the world if enough people read it. This is one of those books- about a man who is literally changing the world--- one sick patient at a time. A must-read for the thinking modern person who has a heart for the woes of the poor.

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Apr 03, 2008 Holly rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: my sister

Shelves: nonfiction, adult

This was a book for book club, and it's not something I would have picked up on my own. I'm so glad I read it though--it's all about Paul Farmer, a doctor who has devoted his life (and I mean every minute of his life) to taking care of the poorest people in the world. Haiti is his favorite place, where he first realized his calling, and he spends most of his time there. But he travels all around the world, incessantly, treating MDR tuberculosis and AIDS in particular. We had our book club meetin...more

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Oct 16, 2007 Kerry rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: people who want proof that there is good in the world

This biography of Paul Farmer is a fascinating account of an inspiring individual. Tracy Kidder's writing is what makes this book so interesting to read. His honest, realistic take on how people react to this driven, dedicated medical anthropologist/doctor/public health advocate is part of what makes this book so riveting. The author's account of his struggle to keep up with the doctor who is willing to travel around the world for his cause, forgo sleep for work, and hike hours to remote huts to...more

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Jan 16, 2009 Dan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Became enthralled with Dr Paul Farmer's determination to bring 21rst Century medicine to some of the world's poorest--Haitians. This is a heart-warming and enfuriating biography; reads pretty fast.

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Dec 28, 2011 Corinne rated it 4 of 5 stars

Have you heard of Dr. Paul Farmer? I know that until my sister recommended this book to me, I hadn't. I also didn't really know much about Haiti except what I'd seen on the news after the earthquake. If you want to learn about Paul Farmer, learning about the plight of Haiti is just part of the journey, because this doctor has taken upon himself the effort to secure medical care in this country where just finding one meal a day is a chore. Paul's creed is that one life is just not worth more than...more

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Dec 13, 2008 Book Lover rated it 3 of 5 stars

I enjoyed the book, which describes Paul Farmer, a doctor who finds his calling in serving the poorest amoung us, particularly in third world countries, such as Peru and Haiti. The book tells the story of how he ignored conventional wisdom concerning fighting TB and AIDs epidemics in parts of the world where it was considered not economically feasible to fight these diseases because the poorest couldn't afford the meds. He refuted that idea and proved it could be done if one would stick to what...more

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May 22, 2013 David rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I loved this book. I was told to read this book and put it off for a month or two. I was wrong. An amazing story about a man I knew nothing about but glad that I heard the story. Kudos to Tracy Kidder, the Pulitzer award writer for telling us his story. Sometimes it felt like reading a good mystery page turner. I just wanted to know how things turned out.

Conviction is what Dr. paul Farmer has. Conviction is something we all need. He began Partners in Health to help out the poorest of poor in Hai...more

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May 21, 2013 Esmeralda rated it 4 of 5 stars

In this moving biography of Paul Farmer, Tracy Kidder takes us on a world tour of medical missionary work. Farmer started his mission to save the world from tuberculosis one patient at a time in the slums of Haiti. Practically from scratch, he developed a clinic that would treat the poor. But Farmer not only treated his patients, he listened to them, he cared about each one with individual interest, and he provided food and supplies so that his patients wouldn't be saved from tuberculosis only t...more In this moving biography of Paul Farmer, Tracy Kidder takes us on a world tour of medical missionary work. Farmer started his mission to save the world from tuberculosis one patient at a time in the slums of Haiti. Practically from scratch, he developed a clinic that would treat the poor. But Farmer not only treated his patients, he listened to them, he cared about each one with individual interest, and he provided food and supplies so that his patients wouldn't be saved from tuberculosis only to die of starvation.

As his mission in Haiti gained more and more momentum, Farmer's expertise on tuberculosis (especially antibiotic-resistant strains) became world-renowned. He was asked to help set up clinics in Peru. He worked with the health systems of prisons in Russia, where antibiotic-resistant tuberculosis was rampant. And he loved each and every patient, regardless of who they were.

While describing the incredible non-stop work of Farmer, Kidder managed to make the doctor more human. I could imagine Farmer, cheerful despite sleep-deprivation shadows under his eyes, flying from one country to another in a worn-down suit that he would never have time to replace. From the book, it seemed that Farmer might pause for hours to have a heart-felt conversation with a patient, even while a room-full of self-important Harvard doctors awaited his arrival. I could empathize with Olivia, Farmer's old flame, who once felt a twinge of satisfaction to realize that Farmer was only human - she could annoy him. Being around someone like that must be exhausting. Kidder painted a brilliant man with limitless energy, unimpeachable morals, and the charisma to make his dreams a reality. I felt overwhelmed just listening to the book. I can't imagine what it must be like to work for him (or date/marry him). And yet, it's impossible for me to not admire him.

I found this book fascinating not only because it was a description of an amazing man with a daring love for humanity, but also because I enjoyed learning more about the social/economic conditions of Haiti. The narrative flowed smoothly between Kidder's personal impressions of Farmer and Haiti to well-researched narratives of Farmer's life outside his work.

I enjoyed Paul Micheal's narration of the book - though I have little to comment on his style of reading. It was one of those audiobooks that I was so absorbed in the story that I forget to be distracted by the narrator - which means Micheal must have done a good job. (less)

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May 17, 2013 Windy2go rated it 5 of 5 stars

Tracy Kidder is a good writer, and she tells a compelling true story in this book of a man dedicated to improving the health of people in Haiti and other impoverished spots around the world. Inspiring. What are we living for? To buy an ever-bigger television? To take expensive, carbon-dioxide spewing vacations around the globe? To build bigger and bigger houses for ourselves while kids in slums around the globe destroy themselves sniffing glue? Or are we on earth to make a difference? Is the lif...more

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About Tracy Kidder

Tracy Kidder is an American author and Vietnam War veteran. Kidder may be best known, especially within the computing community, for his Pulitzer Prize-winning The Soul of a New Machine, an account of the development of Data General's Eclipse/MV minicomputer. The book typifies his distinctive style of research. He began following the project at its inception and, in addition to interviews, spent c...more

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“And I can imagine Farmer saying he doesn't care if no one else is willing to follow their example. He's still going to make these hikes, he'd insist, because if you say that seven hours is too long to walk for two families of patients, you're saying that their lives matter less than some others', and the idea that some lives matter less is the root of all that's wrong with the world.” — 23 people liked it

“WL’s [White Liberals] think all the world’s problems can be fixed without any cost to themselves. We don’t believe that. There’s a lot to be said for sacrifice, remorse, even pity. It’s what separates us from roaches” — 14 people liked it

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