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Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World | 
 enlarge | Author: Tracy Kidder
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Category: Book
List Price: $15.95
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Rating:  147 reviews
Sales Rank: 239
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 336
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.7
ISBN: 0812973011
Dewey Decimal Number: 610.92
EAN: 9780812973013
ASIN: 0812973011
Publication Date: August 31, 2004
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Product Description
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.”
From the Hardcover edition.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 142 more reviews...
 A Contrast of What Should Be with What Is November 30, 2004
128 out of 135 found this review helpful
"Mountains Beyond Mountains" is no exception to Tracy Kidder's excellent body of work. I have been a fan since he wrote "Soul of a New Machine." Kidder impressed me then, as he does now, with his upfront investment of time before putting pen to paper. Fortunately for us, his hard work translates to first class storytelling.
The title "Mountains Beyond Mountains" is a metaphor for life - once you have scaled one mountain (challenge), there are more to come. This is especially true for Paul Farmer, MD, who has devoted his life to what most people call "the impossible." He has faced mountain after mountain in his quest to help mankind.
Farmer starts out devoting his life to providing the most rudimentary medical care to impoverished Haitians (the shafted of the shafted). By age 27, he had treated more illnesses than most doctors would see in a lifetime. With time, he finds himself on the world stage trying to find a cure for drug resistant tuberculosis, undertaking the difficult role of a global fundraiser, and fighting big pharma for lower drug prices. He is a modern day medical hero.
For me, Farmer serves as a startling contrast to Robert K. Maloney, MD, the well known Los Angeles ophthalmologist who has been featured on TV's "Extreme Make-over." Maloney, who was profiled October 26, 2004 in the Wall Street Journal, said that after he completed his medical training, he came to a disquieting conclusion: "I really didn't like sick people." Maloney has since specialized in LASIK refractive surgery (considered cosmetic surgery) and pampers his patients with 25 person staff, and a suit-and-tie concierge who serves pastries and coffee in the waiting room. He then follows up after his patients return home with a gift box of gourmet chocolate chip cookies and a mug bearing the invitation, "Wake up and smell the coffee." He says he now earns more than the $1.2 million in salary and bonuses he made during his last year at UCLA (several years ago), but he won't say how much.
Farmer serves as reminder of what medicine aspired to be - the buck as only a means to an end....ending poverty, ending tuberculosis, ending the plight of many humans who cannot receive treatment from a qualified and trained doctor. Dr. Maloney serves as a reminder of what medicine has become - the buck and celebrity as ends. We should all get one of Maloney's mugs so we, too, can "Wake up and smell the coffee" ...before it is too late.
Read "Mountains Beyond Mountains," if only to regain hope of what medicine can be.
Aha! You have to listen to messages from angels! July 3, 2005
52 out of 60 found this review helpful
Butler University in Indiana has required that all their incoming freshmen read MBM prior to orientation. Bravo! My high school French students sponsor a child in Haiti through Compassion International and we are reading it to gain insights into the culture there. But it has done more than that. It makes you THINK differently about how we view other people. Paul Farmer's aim is not just to educate, but to TRANSFORM. MBM is a "can't-put-it-down" incredible book. Tracey Kidder, the author, says, "The world is full of miserable places. One way of living comfortably is not to think about them, or when you do, to send money." Well, he sweated up and down the mountains trailing Paul Farmer to get this real and phenomenal story.
The mortality rate for children in Haiti is abominable. I think only 50% of the children reach their 5th birthday. Oprah and Mel Gibson should turn this story into a movie and broadcast it to the world....how a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Comma.
Farmer as saint, Haiti as Hell and Kidder as biographer October 9, 2006
21 out of 24 found this review helpful
This book was a loan. It is a worthwhile and absorbing read, mostly because of Kidder's writing ability. The book exists on three distinct levels: the first is as a biography of an interesting man-Paul Farmer, the second is a story about Haiti, the abuse of both it's people and it's land over time and how that creates the modern morass, and lastly is the story of how Kidder became a Farmer fan or how i came to write this book. The book is tying these three levels, these distinct threads into an engrossing and fascinating story so that by the end you too are a Farmer fan.
Why do some, a pityfully few people, seem to do something with their lives, seem to matter in the long run, seem to get useful work out of their time here that others just seem to waster and squander? Is it technique, is it passion, is it ability and in their genes, is it just restless energy? The book offers a few insights into this complex and important topic. But mostly it is a straightforward biography of Paul Farmer, from an unusual childhood to travelling often from Haiti to Boston, from the bottom to the top of the social and material world, about a dichotomy expressed in the life of one man: love of these poor people and love of modern medicine and what it can do for patients as real people.
I appreciated the book, i can hope to read more like this, i can never hope to be like him and will remain a spectator of such people, who seem to exist on a plane of their own. I am glad they live among us and i would believe that their presence blesses the rest of us. But i will remain in the bleachers cheering them onward, perhaps i can write a few small checks to their works but i will always see them from afar. Kidder does all us avid readers a great service by writing down what he saw and heard, thanks.
This is a great book. Period. September 10, 2004
13 out of 14 found this review helpful
It doesn't matter if you've never heard of Paul Farmer, if you have no interest in medicine or public health or third-world countries. I didn't. I only picked this book up (at the library---sorry Amazon, sorry Tracy Kidder) because I've read a few other things by Tracy Kidder and studied the genre of creative nonfiction. I'm very glad that I overlooked the topic to give the story a chance. What you get is a portrait of a man who rises from some interesting circumstances to become first a doctor, then a leader, then someone who changes the lives of thousands of people. It's moving, it's gripping, it's just really well written. And it gave me, at least, a glimpse of how it's possible---really, really possible---to make a difference in the world. I've been recommending it to my friends when we start devolving into that mid-30s life-going-nowhere-real-fast conversation. You know that conversation? Well, then, try this book and figure out which mountain is yours to climb.
Unexpectedly compelling, brilliantly written February 5, 2005
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
I confess that when this book was selected for my book club, I was relatively unenthused. I work for a non-profit and am interested in public health issues, so it wasn't for lack of interest in the topic, but the title and subtitle just made it sound somewhat repetitive and lengthy - I suppose I thought the read itself would be an uphill battle. I was completely wrong. The book was compelling throughout, and the writing was brilliant. Kidder makes the medical terminology extremely accessible, while also making the imagery of the various countries, landscapes, and people come to life.
While I won't go into the details of Farmer's quest (the other reviews and summaries do it justice), I will say that I was duly inspired. This inspiration was partially circumstantial, as I read it while I was experiencing an inertia and lull at work, but all the people I've spoken with concur that it had the same effect on them. However, despite the glowing portrayal of Farmer's visionary quest, Kidder also did a great job of illuminating some of the monsters among Farmer's windmills, the drawbacks of his lifestyle, and the (though few) less-than-charming quirks. I think this was important psychologically for both Kidder and his readers, who could easily be overwhelmed by the enormity of Farmer's vision and impact.
This book made for a great book club discussion and it would also be excellent for high school and college classroom discussions, as it raises a number of issues related to social justice, ethical dilemmas, international politics/policy, personal responsibility, and global health. I highly recommend it and I look forward to checking out some of Kidder's other works.
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