Book Review: Mountains Beyond Mountains

This is a book by Tracy Kidder about Dr. Paul Farmer and his work on healthcare in one of the poorest regions in Haiti and beyond. It felt like a timely book for me to read since Haiti has been in the news a significant amount recently due to the earthquake. I learned a lot about Haiti and health care policy for the poor, and I highly recommend the book simply because I think we could all stand to learn more about these topics. The quality of the writing was a little up and down with the first 200 pages being very well written, but the last 100 pages tended to wander a little and could have been more focused. All in all, however, Kidder is an excellent writer (much better than me), and I'll certainly consider other books by him. Finally, I found Dr. Farmer to be an amazing and intriguing individual. I wouldn't make all the same choices he has made, but I can't help but be impressed by him and applaud him for all that he has done for the poor of Haiti. He is certainly someone that can teach me some important things about the world.