Review: Haiti After the Earthquake

Haiti After the Earthquake by Paul Farmer, M.D.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Farmer didn't ask for a single donation here, but I immediately gave money to Partners in Health (http://www.pih.org/) after reading this book. The work detailing aid efforts and obstacles, successes and trials covers Haiti from storm-sodden to earthquake-racked. I have been a fan of Farmer's generosity and energy since reading [b:Mountains beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World|10235|Mountains beyond Mountains The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World|Tracy Kidder|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320524223s/10235.jpg|1639628]. The analogies and relationship to Rwanda were particularly telling. The book is in two parts: Farmer's descriptions and prescriptions, followed by first-person narratives by witnesses and victims.

Some may expect much from the advertised Meryl Streep narration, but she only narrates a handful of the final chapters. This is a big help to uneven narration. One particularly good final chapter (not narrated by Streep) is the testament of a swept-up journalist who ends up failing to start his own medical transportation service but succeeds and getting a donor to fund this important need.



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