Reviews

Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World, by Tracy Kidder

Only show reviews with written explanations

elsiebrady's review against another edition

4.0

This should be mandatory reading for HS and up. It's amazing what one person can do to affect world poverty. Paul Farmer is inspirational!

rachbank's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny hopeful informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

eliseabril's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

Honestly changed the way I think about health care and why everyone deserves the best quality care. Inspires me to action still.

tbauman's review

Go to review page

5.0

This was a really challenging book about Paul Farmer and his quest to save the lives of the most vulnerable. I haven't read many books that dig to that level into the practicalities of how one should attempt to solve poverty. As the book makes clear, Farmer's lifestyle isn't a model for everyone, but his devotion to solving the hardest, most important problems should be.

EDIT: Coming back to this almost 4 years later - I still think about this book a lot and about his model for life. Can I devote myself to helping others even a fraction as much as he can? What am I willing to sacrifice in terms of personal comfort to help others?

leilaniann's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

I was stoked to read this book finally because I saw Paul Farmer speak and he was really eloquent and funny. I think that the work he does is amazing, and the book very well outlines how he came about doing public health work in Haiti. Unfortunately, I had hoped to learn more about how his programs work so that I can build more of my own knowledge about how to replicate such projects, but the way this book is written, Farmer comes off as a superhero. Yeah, he is a great person who has done so much for public health, but also, his story is told in a way that makes him sound like ONLY he could pull off the amazing work he does, ONLY he can persevere in such conditions, blah blah blah. I don't want to be convinced to idolize him, I want to learn about his work...