Mountains Beyond Mountains

The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World

By: Tracy Kidder

Narrated by: Paul Michael

Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “[A] masterpiece . . . an astonishing book that will leave you questioning your own life and political views.”—USA Today

“If any one person can be given credit for transforming the medical establishment’s thinking about health care for the destitute, it is Paul Farmer. . . . [Mountains Beyond Mountains] inspires, discomforts, and provokes.”—The New York Times (Best Books of the Year)

In medical school, Paul Farmer found his life’s calling: to cure infectious diseases and to bring the lifesaving tools of modern medicine to those who need them most. Tracy Kidder’s magnificent account shows how one person can make a difference in solving global health problems through a clear-eyed understanding of the interaction of politics, wealth, social systems, and disease. Profound and powerful, Mountains Beyond Mountains takes us from Harvard to Haiti, Peru, Cuba, and Russia as Farmer changes people’s minds through his dedication to the philosophy that “the only real nation is humanity.”

WINNER OF THE LETTRE ULYSSES AWARD FOR THE ART OF REPORTAGE

©2003 Tracy Kidder (P)2003 Books on Tape, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Paul Michael captures the book's mix of intensity and elaboration beautifully....Just the right amount of edge-of-your-seat passion....A very good rendition of an important book." —AudioFile

“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

A must for every medical student and physician.

This is a terrific book which can draw every physician back to his or her calling.

An unofficial guide to live your life like a Saint

The narrator was great. The author was eloquent. The subject was magnificent and the protagonist(s) was otherworldly.

In 23 chapters Tracy Kidder and Dr. Paul J. Farmer disect the elements of godliness of the human heart, demonstrate true devotion to a worthy cause, and inevitably make you feel selfish for not doing more to help others. My eyes teared up countless times while listening to this book. Now that it is finished I feel the same way I would had I watched Schindler's List 100 times consecutively (though the books subject is different )

Go on and buy this book. It will be your best listen this year. Then set up a recurring donation to Partners in Health so Dr. Paul can keep "fighting the long defeat". (that quote may shake you after you have finished the book).

Suck it up and wear a mask

Anyone who complains about or refuses to wear a mask during a pandemic, should get this book...This book makes you realize that it is about everyone else and not you. Care for one another always.

Please ask the narrator to not attempt accents

Overall the narrator was fine, until he attempted to replicate accents. His attempt at a British female accent sounded like a southern belle (ala Gone with the Wind) and his Russian accent sounded like the gentlemen was straight out of the Bolshevik Revolution. Both were offensive. Stick with reading and please avoid the play acting.

21st Century Schwitzer

Tracy Kidder has a powerful experience of Dr. Paul Farmer and is able to share it with his fast paced, evocative story. I got a good sense of where Dr. Farmer came from, nature & nurture, and a view into his heart & mind.
The only aspect about Dr. Farmer that wasn't much explored was why he was driven as he was to attend to the poor. It's assumed that his intent is noble. Yet, as a human, Dr. Farmer can't escape the human reality: humans aren't just noble. They are noble and (comma).
I enjoyed the story and the way it was told. I

Great reading!

This book was required "reading" in medical school. This is where I discovered Paul Farmer. Gone too soon. Great man.
Thank you.

The story of possibilities

Great story about people committed to humanity. I feel the author exhibited good insight. Enjoyed the narration as well. An excellent example of what our human race should strive for

A worthwhile read

A narrativa from the frontline of development this book provides an account of Dr. Farmer’s achievements. His achievements and of those who contributed.

Courage in Calling

I am particularly drawn to Farmer’s unwillingness to let plans and processes overshadow actual people. And he finds commendation as well as critique in all quarters, Marxism, capitalism, Harvard, Haiti, his friends and himself. This is an account of vocational heroism, though the heroes certainly do not see it that way. Their plea is for basic decency, for practical love for the “other”, and for always erring toward what benefits those without voice or power. I immediately began again after finishing, and I did not grow bored the second time through. The story is riveting, most notably in its humanity.

Opened my eyes

Although Dr. Paul Farmer is only human and has faults as other reviewers have pointed out, his sacrifice, love and advocacy for the poorest of the poor in Haiti moved me in a way I never would have thought possible. Even more powerful was the way Tracy Kidder made me acutely aware of the terrible conditions and suffering of the impoverished people in Haiti and Peru. I wish everyone in the developed world would read this book and, like me, have their eyes opened to the terrible conditions in which so many people live. This book gave me a desire to relieve suffering wherever I find it and to do something for people in Haiti and elsewhere who can do very little to help themselves.