Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World (Random House Reader's Circle),   ISBN:9780812980554

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This is one of the most inspiring books that I have read in over 20 years. The author is a master at getting you into the shoes of the central character: Paul Farmer.

I highly recommend that you be prepared to be "hooked" on becoming a volunteer for Partners in Health.

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This fine biography tells of a man who while in medical school found his life's calling: to cure infectious diseases and bring modern medicine to the poor. MOUNTAINS BEYOND MOUNTAINS: THE QUEST OF DR. PAUL FARMER, A MAN WHO WOULD CURE THE WORLD tells of his dedication to humanity and his world travels and provides an inspirational story of one man's contribution to social change in a powerful survey recommended for a wide range of collections.

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Farmer is clearly doing great things in Haiti. I admire Farmer for his dedication and skill. However, I came away from the book with the strong feeling that even if Farmer had five times the resources he now has, Haiti overall would be worse off in three years than it is now. Farmer is treating the symptoms, not the disease.

Haiti is already short of food, to the extent where food riots are nothing unusual. Haiti's land is badly eroded and deforested, with agriculture suffering as a result. The simple fact is that sustainable population of Haiti over the long term is probably no more than 1/3 of the present population. Kidder mentions that Farmer's clinic provides birth control when it is requested by patients, but it is clearly not Farmer's main interest. If there is to be any chance at all of Haiti becoming able to feed itself, birth control needs to go from being an afterthought to being an obsession.

Kidder's book doesn't mention peak oil, but it should. Much of the food keeping the Haitian people alive is produced using fertilizer produced from natural gas, with tractors powered by diesel, and transported using fossil fuel-powered trucks and ships. These fuels are already in short supply and likely to become more so in the next few years. If you think conditions in Haiti are bad now, wait and see what it's like when the Haitian population has increased by 10% and the price of food has doubled. Farmer's clinic may well be like trying to hold back the ocean with a syringe. For more on this, see Eating Fossil Fuels: Oil, Food and the Coming Crisis in Agriculture.

Customer Rating: 

I found this to be one of the best and most powerful books that I have read in a very long time. I encourage everyone to read it as it will further open your heart, your mind and your awareness of the pressing need for international public health responses to Haiti and other third world countries.

Customer Rating: 

One ofthe best books I've ever read. Very inspiring. But left me feeling that my own life has only been half lived and selfish. Thank God for humans like Paul Farmer