Over the years, Tracy Kidder has written a number of best-selling nonfiction stories. This is his latest and the first one I have read. It's quite a story.
The story is about a man named Deo from the small African country of Burundi, one of the poorest countries in the world, racked by civil war and genocide. He escapes the country, comes to New York with two hundred dollars to his name, not knowing English. Luckly he eventually meets who help him get into Columbia University where he eventually becomes a medical doctor.
Along the way we readers learn about Africa with its ethnic conflicts and colonial history. That continent has always been a mystery to me, still is, but now I know a little more than I did.
This is a stirring story of survival (Deo was homeless, sleeping in Central Park), perservance, and ultimate triumph---a great story for our time.
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