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From School Library Journal
Adult/High School-Thought-provoking and profoundly satisfying, this book will inspire feelings of humility, admiration, and disquietude; in some readers, it may sow the seeds of humanitarian activism. As a specialist in infectious diseases, Farmer's goal is nothing less than redressing the "steep gradient of inequality" in medical service to the desperately poor. His work establishing a complex of public health facilities on the central plateau of Haiti forms the keystone to efforts that now encompass initiatives on three continents. Farmer and a trio of friends began in the 1980s by creating a charitable foundation called Partners in Health (PIH, or Zanmi Lasante in Creole), armed with passionate conviction and $1 million in seed money from a Boston philanthropist. Kidder provides anecdotal evidence that their early approach to acquiring resources for the Haitian project at times involved a Robin Hood type of "redistributive justice" by liberating medical equipment from the "rich" (Harvard) and giving to the "poor" (the PIH clinic). Yet even as PIH has grown in size and sophistication, gaining the ability to influence and collaborate with major international organizations because of the founders' energy, professional credentials, and successful outcomes, their dedicated vision of doctoring to the poor remains unaltered. Farmer's conduct is offered as a "road map to decency," albeit an uncompromising model that nearly defies replication. This story is remarkable, and Kidder's skill in sequencing both dramatic and understated elements into a reflective commentary is unsurpassed.
Lynn Nutwell, Fairfax City Regional Library, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Lynn Nutwell, Fairfax City Regional Library, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Booklist
Kidder, a master documentarian, has primarily practiced his art on his home turf, Massachusetts, proving that one small place abounds in amazing stories. Now, in his most compelling chronicle to date, this Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner investigates a far harsher world in the company of Paul Farmer, a radical public health reformer devoted to providing medical care to the poor, mainly in Haiti. A Harvard-educated medical anthropologist, TB expert, and MacArthur "genius" gifted with an unshakable moral imperative, an ardent imagination, and limitless energy, compassion, and chutzpah, Farmer created Partners in Health, a renegade yet hugely influential organization. A powerful presence, this uncompromising visionary is too spectacularly impressive not to be disconcerting, and Kidder shares his puzzlement over and occasional discomfort with this charismatic and tirelessly giving man who eschews personal comfort to care for the "underdogs of the underdogs." As Kidder accompanies Farmer on his exhausting and risky daily routines and epic travels, he parses the cruel realities of deep poverty and the maddening politics of international health care. Most importantly, Kidder portrays a genuinely inspired and heroic individual, whose quest for justice will make every reader examine her or his life in a new light. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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First Sentence
Six years after the fact, Dr. Paul Edward Farmer reminded me, "We met because of a beheading, of all things." Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt
Six years after the fact, Dr. Paul Edward Farmer reminded me, "We met because of a beheading, of all things." Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt
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Most helpful customer reviews
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Mountains Beyond Mountains: Inadvertently Serves a Certain A,
By
This review is from: Mountains Beyond Mountains (Hardcover)
"Mountains Beyond Mountains" is absorbing and Paul Farmer to be truly amazing. However, there is something quite troubling about this book. I hate to get racial about things (especially since Caucasians tend to tune out nowadays, when ever an African American does so, refusing to even listen to what's being said, as will be demonstrated, I predict, by the many who will push "No" at the bottom of this review to indicate that it wasn't helpful). But I think that, as a so-called race, Caucasians can read this book and pat themselves on the back for producing a Paul Farmer. Here's why I say this. Clearly, the book portrays Haiti as an extremely poor and oppressed place, where too many of those in power are extremely uncaring about the poor. So bad are conditions there, and so amazing is Paul Farmer that Caucasians can pat themselves on the back for producing someone like him, and, simultaneously let themselves off the hook for maintaining the type of society we have here in the U.S. because, at least in the U.S. the poor aren't faring nearly as badly as they are in Haiti. And look at who is making the biggest difference of all down there: not another Haitian; not another "black person" period, but "one of their own." The other thing that struck me about this book. Kidder is much older than Paul Farmer. Yet throughout the book, he displays an awe of Farmer. Here's why this interests me. I cannot imagine this same writer displaying a similar awe for an African American physician, no matter how talented that physician was. I may be wrong. But in my experience with the vast majority of Caucasians, rare is the African American they don't condescend to. Rare is the African American of any background, whom they don't expect to prove that he or she deserves even the basics of their respect, no matter what the African American's vocation (unless that vocation has something to do with athletics or entertainment). Yet at the same time, rare is the African American who, like Farmer, would be willing to turn conventional wisdom in a scientific field on its head, rather than conform to accepted notions in her or his field in order to prove that he or she deserves the respect of peers. This is why I have such mixed feelings about this book. I admire Farmer and am convinced of his sincerity of mission. But I am conflicted about how he is being used by a publishing and media environment eager to prove that the world would be lost without Caucasians of intelligence and good will.
4.0 out of 5 stars
The man who walks the walk.,
By Gitano "gitano@argentinamail.com" (New England) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Mountains Beyond Mountains (Hardcover)
You may think he is crazy, or a commie, or a dreamer but you have to admire Paul Farmer. I think most likely he is a truly good genius. Alot of WLs (white liberals) talk the talk but his guy walks the walk, about a million miles of it. He is sort of a Mother Theresa + doctor + scientist. Sure he may come off as abrupt or self righteous from time to time but I believe this guy really does care for the downtrodden of the world. If you were inspired by this book as I was consider making a donation to his organization, Partners in Health, which is what I did as soon as I read the last page.The book itself is somewhat superficial in it's analysis of Farmer. I am concerned about his family, for instance, and his daughter having a long distance dad. I'm not sure how he reconciles this. I guess Gandhi had the same issue. I think Kidder did an OK job though and I would not fault him for his introspection as other reviewers have. All in all a solid uplifting book that makes you feel good about mankind.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Patria Es Humanidad--the only real nation is humanity,
By Lori "Lori" (wisconsin) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Mountains Beyond Mountains (Hardcover)
This is Tracy Kidder's chronicle of Paul Farmer's ongoing quest to wake our consciousness to the plagues coming out of third world poverty and to shake us into recognizing the suffering of our fellow humans around the globe. Paul Farmer is a super-hero on the front lines of infectious disease, attacking drug-resistant TB in Haiti, Peru and the prisons of Russia. His global fight for funding for AIDS and TB treatment has gained his organization Partners in Health huge grants from the MacArthur, Gates and Soros foundations. Farmer backs down from no obstacles in his quest to bring health care, one patient at a time, to the poorest and most down-trodden patients on earth.A natural leader, his influence has drawn nations together in their fight against poverty, hunger and disease. This is the most important story Tracy Kidder has told. Farmer's constant questioning of why some individuals need so much wealth, when most of the world goes hungry, is not an easy thing to take. Should be required reading for high school seniors.
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