Common book writer Kidder to speak up

As a continuation of the UW Common Book Project, writer Tracy Kidder will visit the UW tonight to discuss Mountains Beyond Mountains as well as his other works.

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Tonight

Kane 130

Doors open at 4:30 p.m., discussion begins at 5:30 p.m.

Free, but registration is required at

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The event, titled "A Conversation with Tracy Kidder," will be discussion-based with a two-person panel asking questions of Kidder and a moderator facilitating the discussion.

Kidder established himself as one of the premier writers of the non-fiction narrative by focusing on the details of his characters' stories to engagingly communicate a broader idea to his readers. Kidder won the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award with that approach by writing The Soul of a New Machine. He is also the author of bestsellers House, Among Schoolchildren, and Home Town.

Mountains tells the story of Paul Farmer, a medical anthropologist specializing in infectious diseases and a co-founder of the nonprofit organization Partners In Health. Farmer, who spoke at the UW in November, is represented through Kidder's skilled attention to detail as a character who confronts the difference between what can be done and what's being done to treat a disease like AIDS.

"Somehow I was hoping in this book to reproduce the experience of going [to Haiti] with Paul Farmer and his colleagues from Partners In Health [HTML_REMOVED] it's altogether different and exhilarating to see someone grappling with the problems of the world in a way that's effective," Kidder said. "The point is that [Mountains] is not just a story about all that's terrible in the world, but it's also a story about someone who's trying to do something and effectively doing something about those things."

Kidder first met Farmer when he was in Haiti reporting on American soldiers who were in the region to reinstate a constitutionally elected government.

They ran into each other a few times by chance, and during those times Kidder questioned Farmer about Haiti's history and the reasons for current issues.

After their first few meetings, however, Kidder lost touch with Farmer, possibly (as Kidder wrote in Mountains) because of Kidder's skepticism about Farmer's optimistic approach to the situation in Haiti.

Kidder eventually realized the value of Farmer's position as a beneficial leader in public health.

"I kind of kept track of him for the next six years, but vaguely," Kidder said. "Then I finally realized 'What's the matter with you? This is a great story you've got on your hands!' I wanted to muster every ounce of craft I had to tell it as honestly, clearly, and vividly as I could."

Reach reporter Claire Fox at news@thedaily.washington.edu.