Despite the awkward title (a quote from Wordsworth) this is a great book about good and evil, even better than "Mountains beyond Mountains," although it is in way a sequel to Kidder's essay on Dr. Paul Farmer, the man who single-handedly took on tuberculosis and the World Health Organization.

The tale of Deo, a survivor of tbe Burundi holocaust (a lesser-known adjunct to the Rwanda slaughter), is more accessible as Deo, a medical student refugee, is (at first) less heroic than Dr. Farmer, Deo is a man with fears and weaknesses manifested in chronic stomach problems and nightmares.

Narrative is not always Kidder's strength but he's come up with a novel structure here. First he tells the story of Deo's remarkable survival. Then he retells the story examining the motives of all those who threatened and those who saved him--the angry Hutu rebels, the kindly New York intellectual couple who takes him in, prevents him from being deported, and puts him on the road to medical school.

Finally he describes the aftermath of the Rwanda/Burundi holocaust and the potential for healing.

In doing so Kidder actually describes the roots of good and evil in rational terms rather than leaving us scratching our heads about man's innately savage or noble nature. And he does so without excusing the atrocity. Great stuff.