With Humanities Highlights, Himmelfarb staff aims to spotlight useful books from our Humanities collection. This week, we’re showcasing an inspirational book for the New Year: “Mountains Beyond Mountains: the Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer,” by Tracy Kidder.
About the Book: Part biography, part origin story of Partners in Health, “Mountains Beyond Mountains” tells the story of Dr. Paul Farmer, a man who dedicated his life to battling disease and serving the poor with out-of-the-box-thinking, a justice-fueled irreverence for the status quo, and a willingness to redefine the impossible. Journalist Tracy Kidder follows Farmer’s service in Haiti and Peru with wonder and intimidation, entertaining periodic skepticism about Farmer’s practicality (walking 7 hours to visit a single patient, for example) while ultimately marveling at the work accomplished.
Reasons to Read: As an inspiration for anyone studying medicine or public health, Farmer shows that apathy can be overcome, policy change can happen, millions can be saved – and anything’s possible.
Reasons to Avoid: Farmer’s example seems (at times) impossibly high, even unreplicatable, and his vision of charity impossibly uncompromising. It’s important to remember that charity does not require genius and that any progress helps.
Fun Facts:
- The Arcade Fire song, “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)” is named after the novel (CBC Music).
Further Reading:
- Bending the Arc - a 2017 documentary about Partners in Health
- How Paul Farmer helped save the lives of millions of people by John Green
- Infections and Inequalities: the Modern Plagues, by Paul Farmer
- Partner to the Poor: a Paul Farmer Reader
References:
10 things you didn't know about Arcade Fire's The Suburbs (Jul 31, 2020). CBC Music. https://www.cbc.ca/music/10-things-you-didn-t-know-about-arcade-fire-s-the-suburbs-1.5669278.
Cover Photo by Reynaldo Mirault on Unsplash
