Thursday, November 11, 2010
Strength in What Remains
Title: Strength in What Remains
By: Tracy Kidder
At once heartwarming and tearjerking, Kidder tells the story of Deo who arrives in New York City with $200 in his pocket after a harrowing escape from civil war and genocide in Burundi. This is a story of hope and survival in the face of man’s inhumanity to man. Deo’s journey would be inspiring without the horrific beginning. Luckily he meets generosity and love along the way. He graduates from Columbia, works in Boston, and finally finishes medical school. Then he returns to Burundi, partly to continue telling his story, but also to help family and friends who remained behind.
Kidder is a remarkable writer who often tells the stories of ordinary people who do extraordinary things. Try Strength in What Remains and you will want to read more of Kidder. Two of my favorites are Hometown and Mountains Beyond Mountains.