Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World
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Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Tracy Kidder (Author), Paul Michael (Narrator), Random House Audio (Publisher)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 3,624 ratings
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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

Previous page
  1. Listening Length
    10 hours and 50 minutes
  2. Author
    Tracy Kidder
  3. Narrator
    Paul Michael
  4. Audible release date
    September 25, 2003
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Random House Audio
  7. ASIN
    B0000DYXQW
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
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Product details

Listening Length 10 hours and 50 minutes
Author Tracy Kidder
Narrator Paul Michael
Audible.com Release Date September 25, 2003
Publisher Random House Audio
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B0000DYXQW
Best Sellers Rank #13,712 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#27 in Biographies of Medical Professionals (Audible Books & Originals)
#35 in Sociological Study of Medicine
#67 in Audiobooks on Hygiene & Healthy Living

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
3,624 global ratings
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Top reviews from the United States

kds
5.0 out of 5 stars A catalyst for good
Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2015
Verified Purchase
Tracy Kidder is the master journalist, like a clear window on the world. Long ago I read The Soul of a New Machine and liked it, but didn't think too much about it. The brilliance of Kidder's style is so make you feel like you are there, really feel what the subject is about, without any distortion positive or negative.

What an amazing subject for this work: Dr. Paul Farmer. This guy is just amazing! As a college student, he travels to Haiti to dedicate himself to the poor. He attends Harvard while spending 8 months a year in Haiti building his own hospital there. He gets a PhD in Anthropology at the same time he gets his MD, the latter not surprising given that he already has 6 years of intense clinical experience dealing directly with life and death situations. You would expect such a person to take on airs, maybe be a big proud of himself, maybe even be motivated by the 'big bucks' so clearly available in a rich city. Dr. Farmer appears to be vying for a "saint" award. Kidder makes you feel like you are there sitting in the same room, and it is no big deal.

To say this book is inspiring is badly understating it. Look at what you can do if you hold true to your ideals! It is humbling as well. Dr. Farmer is my age, and I can't help drawing parallels with my own life, and there is no way I could do a fraction of what he is done. Yet I don't need to: it is satisfying to know that there are people like him in the world.

There is so much to learn from the book. Never give in, and never give up! His daily accomplishments are so small, and yet at the same time so profound and consistent. It is all about "caring". If you care about your friends, your neighbors, your family, and - yes - the rest of the world, how can you not love a person who literally saves people on a daily basis? Are we seeing a saint walking among us? One has to wonder.

This is a story that needs to be told. It reminds me a lot of Three Cups of Tea. If only we could motivate others to do the same -- if only we could motivate ourselves to do the same -- the world could be a better place. How refreshing to read about a real superhero.

While continuing to work in Haiti, he started to investigate Lima Peru, where there was a disturbing trend: people with Tuberculosis that was resistant to 4, maybe even 5 of the top antibiotics. He goes there and finds that in general Peru is competently following a program in strict accordance to WHO standards. The problem was the WHO guidelines! How to raise this issue without alienating the world's most important health organization, or the officials in Peru. At the same time, what can be done about drugs with inflated costs putting them out of reach of these poor patients?

His travels take him to the prisons in Russia, which has a an extreme problem with TB as well. Prisoners are easy to study and monitor. He points out that the prisons are like a pump that cycles TB into the general population with prisoners who stay a few years and bring the disease back with him. You almost cheer when he gets a grant from the Gates foundation to develop a modified procedure to battle MDR-TB.

He does not do any of this all by himself. There are a lot of truly dedicate people who recognize his talent and follow/help him all along the way. Kidder manages to capture many of these people as well. At still, Farmer's real talent is to be the catalyst that makes it all come together. It might be better to say it all flows around him...

In the end, his success is due to one simple talent, and he says it best in his own words: "I like people." It is hard not to like him back.
25 people found this helpful
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Four Bears
5.0 out of 5 stars Solving the World's Big Problems
Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2009
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I haven't read Tracy Kidder since The Soul of a New Machine which I loved. Obviously that was a mistake. This book is excellent and its subject, inspiring: the life and work of Paul Farmer makes me believe that all the big problems of the world would be soluble if people had attitudes similar to his--and that he's capable of infecting anyone who gets anywhere near him, maybe even just reading this book. People don't of course generally have Farmer's attitudes, but still he has accomplished much by a relatively simple philosophy--that it's wrong (and unnecessary) for there to be desperately poor people in the world. For him that translates into bringing top notch medical care to every citizen of the planet. He thought that could be done without the usual rationale for how to help the poor: doing the greatest good for the greatest number with the resources you have. Farmer's biggest success was convincing the medical world that they were wrong in thinking the best way to fight TB was to concentrate on drug programs for those with TB which could be cured by the most common (read "inexpensive") drugs and ignoring (i.e. leaving to die) those with MDR (multi drug resistant TB) which needed careful diagnosis to figure out which combination of very expensive drugs were necessary. In Farmer's world view, every person on the planet deserved the same medical care; he was impervious to anyone who tried to suggest to him that that wasn't "practical". In the MDR case, he found a test site in Peru and proved his point, not the least of which was that if the world left the MDR cases went untreated, it would facilitate the spread of the most dangerous kind of TB. Farmer also thinks there's no population with AIDS that does not deserve to be treated with the latest drugs. Along the way he's brought dying children from Haiti to Boston for treatment and cures, and brought open-heart surgery to the poorest part of Haiti. The organization he founded, Partners in Health, perpetrates his messianic philosophy of medicine.
Farmer works in two very disparate worlds he very much wants to bring closer together: Harvard Medical School and the top notch Boston hospitals that gives him access to and his clinic in the central highlands of the poorest country in the western hemisphere--Haiti. He started the work in Haiti before he even went to medical school himself and obtained his medical degree plus a PhD in anthropology at the same time, while spending significant amounts of time at his Haitian clinic. He's clearly one of those smart, driven and extremely energetic souls whose drive to accomplish is nothing short of miraculous.
Kidder doesn't say how he chose Farmer as a subject for his book, but it's clear his research extended over several years during which he visited Farmer in Haiti and Boston many times--and traveled with him to international conferences and to places where Farmer was working such as the slums of Lima, Peru and the prison system of Russia. Kidder is one of those writers whose books evolve organically, without a clear chronology or even a topical outline. If there's one organizing principal it's Kidder's own experience with Farmer, from his first impressions through his broadening understanding of a complex man and his work. The book is a joy to read and Farmer's life is nothing short of an inspiration. This book may be the perfect melding of superb writer and worthy subject.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Andrew Zsolt
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Book
Reviewed in Canada on January 2, 2024
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This book was fantastic. It shows what a difference one person can make if they want to help.
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Bookworshipper
5.0 out of 5 stars What a book? Book for soul!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 24, 2023
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Amazing book-difficult to believe there are people who are so committed and driven to do good for the people-wherever they are. It shows to see people as human not based on colours. Instead of calculating everything as cost vs benefits, we should meet the requirements of every individual. Paul Farmer demonstrate that few committed individuals with high ideals can change the world. He also demonstrates the importance of working with people accepting their cultural beliefs.

Tracy kidder- this is the first book I read from him. I never felt there is any need to take a break! I am planning to read more of his books.
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Ashish Disawal
5.0 out of 5 stars An eye opener
Reviewed in India on June 29, 2021
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I never knew that a guy like Dr. Paul Farmer existed. I would recommend everyone to read the book.
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S.
3.0 out of 5 stars Something to talk about
Reviewed in Italy on September 15, 2014
Verified Purchase
I am not a passionate humanitarian worker, but I have admired the deeds of Paul Farmer.
His vivid commitment to the poorest in the world has given me a lot of inspiration in everyday life.
Doctor Paul was an eccentric personality, relentless worker, and has been awarded for his accomplishments with immense donations from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
In my opinion this book also gives a brilliant insight on Haiti, one of the poorest countries in the world among middle-income Caribbean islands flourishing on tourism.
This book is interesting for doctors, humanitarian operators and any person who believes in action against violence and poverty.
I definitelysuggest it.
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S. Radzanowski
5.0 out of 5 stars Eines der besten Bücher die ich gelesen habe...
Reviewed in Germany on December 28, 2011
Verified Purchase
Absolut inspirierend, herausfordernd und motivierend zugleich. Eine wirkliche Kaufempfehlung, kann man mehr als einmal lesen. Die Wortwahl im Englischen ist auch sehr schön und vor allem breit gefächert, man kann also gleichzeitig viele neue Vokabeln lernen. Aber keine Angst, auch ohne jedes einzelne Wort zu übersetzen kann man das Buch verstehen ;-). Unglaublich, was ein einzelner Mensch so alles leisten kann.
Auf Amazon.com findet ihr noch viele weitere Bewertungen zu diesem Buch, die man sich vielleicht mal durchlesen könnte, wenn es einen noch nicht überzeugt hier auf der deutschen Seite.
2 people found this helpful
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