Cut taxes at home, go to war abroad, then ask the U.N. to clean up the resulting messisn’t that about how our foreign policy works these days? So it’s a good time to hear from the Pulitzer Prize-winning Kidder (pictured) about health conditions in the forgotten Third World. His focus in Mountains Beyond Mountains is on Dr. Paul Farmer, winner of a MacArthur “genius award,” who works with the poorest of the poor in Haiti, where HIV and other infectious diseases run rampant. But as we know, anti-viral drugs cost money, and Farmer’s funding sources are mainly privateincluding the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Kidder’s account also ventures to Peru, where drug-resistant TB is running rampant. If that sounds depressing, it’s not. In a world where Bush and Cheney are running rampant, men like Farmer remind us how individuals can still make a difference. U.W. Kane Hall, Room 110, 206-634-3400 (free tickets required in advance from University Book Store), 7 p.m. Thurs. Oct. 2. BRIAN MILLER
Tracy Kidder
Mountains Beyond Mountains
