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Tracy Kidder

    November 12, 1945

    Tracy Kidder is an American author renowned for his deeply immersive approach to non-fiction storytelling. He excels at dissecting complex human endeavors, from the intricate development of cutting-edge technology to the collaborative effort behind architectural marvels. Kidder's signature method involves extensive fieldwork, where he observes his subjects closely, spending considerable time with them to capture the texture and nuance of their work and lives. This dedication allows him to craft compelling narratives that offer profound insights into the creative process and the dedication of those involved.

    Modern Library: The Soul of a New Machine - With a New Introduction by the Author
    Rough Sleepers
    Home Town
    Among Schoolchildren
    The Soul of a New Machine
    Mountains Beyond Mountains
    • In Rough Sleepers, Tracy Kidder shows how one person can make a difference, as he tells the story of Dr. Jim O’Connell, a man who invented ways to create a community of care for a city’s unhoused population, including those who sleep on the streets—the “rough sleepers.” When Jim O’Connell graduated from Harvard Medical School and was nearing the end of his residency at Massachusetts General Hospital, the chief of medicine made a proposal: Would he defer a prestigious fellowship and spend a year helping to create an organization to bring health care to homeless citizens? Jim took the job because he felt he couldn’t refuse. But that year turned into his life’s calling. Tracy Kidder spent five years following Dr. O’Connell and his colleagues as they served their thousands of homeless patients. In this book, we travel with O’Connell as he navigates the city, offering medical care, socks, soup, empathy, humor, and friendship to some of the city’s most vulnerable citizens. He emphasizes a style of medicine in which patients come first, joined with their providers in what he calls “a system of friends.”

      Rough Sleepers2024
    • Amahoro nennen die Menschen in Burundi eine Zeit des Friedens, wenn Menschen sich noch wie Menschen verhalten. Nach Amahoro sehnt sich auch der junge Afrikaner Deogratias, als er in Ruanda auf den Flieger nach New York wartet. Er landet mit dem Wenigen, was er auf dem Leib trägt, schläft im Central Park, lernt in Buchläden Englisch aus Wörterbüchern und kämpft auf der Straße ums Überleben. Nachts quälen ihn Alpträume und Erinnerungen an unaussprechliche Dinge, die er vergessen will. Nach und nach enthüllt Tracy Kidder in Rückblenden das Grauen, dem Deo entkommen ist, erzählt von der (noch) friedlichen Kindheit in Burundi und von dem Ausbruch des unvorstellbaren Massakers der Tutsi und Hutu, dem die Welt fassungslos zusah. Unzählige Male sah Deo dem Tod ins Gesicht, und ebenso oft retteten ihn Akte der Menschlichkeit. So auch in New York. Der Obdachlose findet Freunde, studiert Medizin und wird Arzt, der Wunsch nach Verstehen jedoch bleibt. Er kehrt ins versehrte Burundi zurück und gründet ein Hilfswerk für Arme. Tracy Kidder erzählt mit großer literarischer Kraft von einem Schicksal, das niemanden unberührt lässt. Deogratias' Geschichte zeigt, wie auch aus tiefster Verzweiflung Mut und Hoffnung auf ein neues Leben erwachsen können.

      Mein Weg nach Amahoro2010
      4.0
    • As a medical student, Dr Paul Farmer found his life's calling: to cure infectious diseases and to bring the lifesaving tools of modern medicine - so readily available in the developed world - to those who need them most. The author's account shows how, from achieving this modest dream, one person can make a difference in solving global problems.

      Mountains Beyond Mountains2003
      4.2
    • Home Town

      • 464 pages
      • 17 hours of reading

      In this fascinating book, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tracy Kidder takes us inside the everyday workings of Northampton, Massachusetts -- a place that seems to personify the typical American hometown. Kidder unveils the complex drama behind the seemingly ordinary lives of Northampton's residents. And out of these stories he creates a splendid, startling portrait of a town, in a narrative that gracefully travels among past and present, public and private, joy and sorrow.A host of real people are alive in these pages: a tycoon with a crippling ailment; a criminal whom the place has beguiled, a genial and merciful judge, a single mother struggling to start a new life at Smith College; and, at the center, a policeman who patrols the streets of his beloved hometown with a stern yet endearing brand of morality -- and who is about to discover the peril of spending a whole life in one small place. Their stories take us behind the town's facades and reveal how individuals shape the social conscience of a community. Home Town is an unflinching yet lovingly rendered account of how a traditional American town endures and evolves at the turn of the millenniums.

      Home Town2000
      3.8
    • Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the American Book Award, this bestseller recounts the intense efforts of a team of Data General researchers as they strive to create a new 32-bit superminicomputer. With the flair of a thriller writer, the author presents a compelling narrative of individual sacrifice and human ingenuity, capturing the essence of the computer age and the visionaries behind its advancements. Renowned for its honest portrayal of the complexities, chaos, and beauty within the field, the book offers readers an engaging entry point into understanding computers and appreciating the skills of their creators. Critics have praised it for its ability to entertain while providing insight into a world that many can only admire from afar. The Modern Library has played a pivotal role in American cultural life since its founding in 1917, offering affordable hardbound editions of significant works. For its seventy-fifth anniversary, the series underwent a redesign, restoring its iconic emblem and refreshing its titles, while continuing to deliver the best literature at accessible prices. The author has also contributed a new Introduction to this edition.

      Modern Library: The Soul of a New Machine - With a New Introduction by the Author1997
    • Among Schoolchildren

      • 352 pages
      • 13 hours of reading

      Brimming with the exuberance and innocence of childhood, Among School Children is the intense and affecting chronicle of a Holyoke, Massachusetts, fifth-grade teacher's passionate dedication to the children in her classroom.#Houghton Mifflin.

      Among Schoolchildren1990
      3.9
    • Das Haus

      • 459 pages
      • 17 hours of reading
      Das Haus1987
    • The Soul of a New Machine

      • 293 pages
      • 11 hours of reading

      Tracy Kidder's The Soul of a New Machine, the compelling account of the inventors of a new mini-supercomputer for the young Data General company, is the best chronicle of the computer age and the extraordinary people who have created it. A compelling account of individual sacrifice and ingenuity, it became an instant classic on publication and won a Pulitzer Prize. The Wall Street Journal described it as "fascinating" and "provocative", and The New York Times Book Review praised its "high level of narrative art". This Modern Library edition includes a new introduction by Tracy Kidder. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

      The Soul of a New Machine1982
      4.1