• 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
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (2,116 ratings)

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Mountains Beyond Mountains  By  cover art

Mountains Beyond Mountains

By: Tracy Kidder
Narrated by: Paul Michael
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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

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What listeners say about Mountains Beyond Mountains

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

A Great Book

I wish that I could rate this book twice. The first half of the book describes Dr. Farmer's childhood, the life choices he made and the strongly held beliefs that have guided him in his service to the poor. This first half gets 5 out of 5 stars.
The second half is a current view of Dr. Farmer's day to day schedule. The writer follows Dr. Farmer as he travels between clinics in Central America, Peru, Russia and elswhere while engaging the Doctor in philosophical arguments about healthcare funding and politics. This second half gets 4 out of 5 stars.

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57 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Mountains Beyond Mountains, by Tracy Kidder

Since becoming a member of Audible over a year and a half ago, I can say without reservation that this is the best, most compelling, and most inspiring book I've read. The narration is stellar, a must for my Audible choices. But the story itself draws you in, and you can't stop reading as you follow the humble beginnings of Partners in Health, its unique founder, Dr. Paul Farmer, and the impact a small group of highly-movtivated and committed individuals has made on world health. There are many miles to go yet in the journey of Partners in Health. By reading this book, you will want to join them.

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48 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Subject

I wish that John McPhee had written this book, but I guess I am being greedy. At 72 I suppose McPhee could not have kept up with Paul Farmer well enough to do him justice. This stunning account of Dr. Farmers' work with the worlds sick and poor(the two seem to be synonymous) moved me more deeply than I could have imagined. Be prepared to sell your house and car and move to Central America.

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37 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Great book about an inspiring man

The subject of this book, Dr. Paul Farmer and his work with the poor in Haiti (and other places), are interesting, moving, and enlightening. The writer does a good job of asking the hard questions that the reader wants to have asked, while maintaining a basically sympathetic approach. The narration is very well done-you forget you're listening to a professional voice actor. You only hear the author, an old Haitian woman, or a Russian doctor. You'll learn some things from this book. Can one person make a difference? Read this one and find out.

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17 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Inspiring, captivating

I flew throught his book. Not only was it educational and thought-provoking, it was wonderful story of a ture role model in world health reform. As a doctor, it inspired me to think more globally and to listen intently to my patients and their families.

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15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

A quirky genius saint

I loved the book, including the narration. I've long enjoyed Tracy Kidder's work and this is every bit as good as his others. Along with the important, dramatic, amazing story of Dr. Farmer's work and life, I especially enjoyed the way Mr. Kidder captures Dr. Farmer's inventive use of words and his quirky shorthand language and acronyms. I was sorry when the book ended but grateful for the way it cut through my cynicism about what one person can do.

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15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Bad News

After reading some of the reviews, I had high hopes for this audible book. But I could only make it through the first half. If you are conservative minded you will hate the book. If you are liberal you may like it if you like to hear all the old liberal platitudes, preconceived notions, misconceptions, errors, erroneous sayings, false conclusions--repeated ad nauseam.....The dialogue is also poorly written and grates on the nerves.

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

What it means to

I agree with the earlier reviewer that if you are conservative-minded, you will not like this book. In fact, you will hate this book. It offers no comfort to the smug and complacent. It fails to blame the victims and doesn't heap scorn on those trying to help what are surely the most wretched of the earth.
Paul Farmer is exactly the kind of guy to set neo-con teeth on edge. He's a famous infectious disease expert, for heaven's sake. He could be making piles and piles of money and spending it all on big houses and cars for himself!
It might be ok if he were driven by religious fervor but instead he's a secular guy who actually believes that in "love thy neighbor" stuff and doesn't have the sense to know that neighbors are the folks who live next door in suburbia -- not in some dreadful slum in Haiti or Peru.
But for those who don't think compassion is a dirty word, this book will enlighten and move you. Farmer is no saint but he's the most moral person one could imagine. His reserves of energy and will simply boggle the mind. He's almost impossible to describe but Tracy Kidder does remarkably well. Most of us can never be like Paul Farmer -- and in some ways that's a good thing -- but the world is a better place because he's in it. And every day he lives, he continues to make a difference.
Would that we could all have that said about us.
"And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity." Corinthians xiii. 13.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

OK but not great.

A very good picture of health conditions in some of the poorest conditions in the Western Hemisphere. Farmer, the subject, is almost saintly, but he does have some serious problems becoming politically charged and believing rules are for everyone else. He shares an off-balance world view with of the Harvard elite, yet considers himself quite different. A worthwhile read (or listen).

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

The Power of One Person to change the world

Reminds me of Bobby Kennedy's statement which I believe is: "Some see things as they are and wonder why. I see things that never were and wonder why not?" Paul Farmer seems to follow that in his daily life--he is a saint! He could be a wealthy Boston doctor, but instead chooses to spend his time fighting poverty and abysmal health care in Haiti and around the world. His story is fascinating, his impact immeasurable. Very inspiring tale, along the lines of Three Cups of Tea. A must for your audio bookshelf.

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10 people found this helpful