general

This is Tracy Kidder's chronicle of Paul Farmer's ongoing quest to wake our consciousness to the plagues coming out of third world poverty and to shake us into recognizing the suffering of our fellow humans around the globe. Paul Farmer is a super-hero on the front lines of infectious disease, attacking drug-resistant TB in Haiti, Peru and the prisons of Russia. His global fight for funding for AIDS and TB treatment has gained his organization Partners in Health huge grants from the MacArthur, Gates and Soros foundations. Farmer backs down from no obstacles in his quest to bring health care, one patient at a time, to the poorest and most down-trodden patients on earth.
A natural leader, his influence has drawn nations together in
their fight against poverty, hunger and disease. This is the most important story Tracy Kidder has told. Farmer's constant questioning of why some individuals need so much wealth, when most of the world goes hungry, is not an easy thing to take.
Should be required reading for high school seniors.

You would have to be heartless or stupid not to be moved by this book. In a day and age when our world (def:commerce, media and populations of developed countries) care more about material appearences and the plight of Michael Jackson or Martha Stuart than about the needless death of millions of poor people, Thank God there are people like Dr Farmer, PIH et al. I have had the opportunity to work first hand with medical teams in impoverished parts of South America and know exactly the exhilarations and heartbreaks that Mr Kidder describes in his book. This book caused me some self examination and reminded to always keep patients and families at the heart of my trips instead of selfishly looking for that "good feeling" that comes from helping someone less fortunate. Dr Farmer's courage and dedication will blow you away - how can one man do so much? READ THIS BOOK and if you are moved then don't hestitate helping where it is needed. Try the following:
Partners in Health (Dr Farmer's organization)
American Leprosy Mission (www.leprosy.org)
Healing the Children (www.HTCNE.org)
Shared Hope International (www.sharedhope.org)
On a final note I have shared this book with my college and highschool children who have gone on to share it with their friends - change starts small.

The book was great. Tracy Kidder writes the truth and his wanting to write about Paul Farmer shows his insight, his awareness. I know Paul Farmer and what Kidder has written in this book is all true. The beauty of Paul's life, person and mission aside-he has the ability to inspire people, to bring the best out in people. Even if he meets them only once-as he did me. The fact that Kidder wrote this book will multiply that effect to thousands more people. The strong reactions that Paul's life and work has on people shows how many of us share his love for humanity, and his story wakens what is inside us. Not everyone has the god-given gifts of Paul Farmer but many relate to his heart and spirit. I like the idea that he is a professor. I know before I met up with him I was doing nothing in my field and after just a few words with him, I managed to accomplish a few steps toward human rights advances for women. He is someone who is almost christ-like in this way and no wonder Tom White and others wrote checks and made the commitment to the poor. I cannot say enough good things about this man, and his flaws-his humanity- just make him closer to all of us. His academic work reminds me sometimes of the great writer Ben Okri-the notion of innocents caught up in difficult and wicked worlds a recurring theme in his work. Paul loves and puts that love into transcendant forms -spirit transformed into concrete results. People wonder why his beautiful wife and child are not mentioned in the book. They are, and the story told is quite enough. Nabokov never wanted anyone writing about his wife either. Why do people need to hear this detail-its already admitted by Kidder, by Paul Farmer himself that he is human, no more, with flaws, with limits despite no sleep etc., he is a workaholic and yeah that is a problem. We know that it is Tom White's money that gave credibility to Paul at a place like Harvard-but Paul proved Tom right. He is real and that is the hope of his story-if he can do what he dreams and knows is right, in spite of his shortcomings, human limitations, it gives fuel to the rest of us. He reminds me of a kindred spirit, Jonathan Mann, MD, also a very approachable, compassionate man, who could inspire people to access the best in themselves and move mountains. There are many people like Paul who do the work he loves in obscurity. We never hear about them or meet them so we lose the gift of thier inspiration. Paul in being public, writing and extending himself out there gives us a view of that world. The book is marvellous and the best part about it is that it is true story!