Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tracy Kidder will speak at UF tonight at 7 p.m.
"A Conversation with Tracy Kidder" will take place at the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts where Kidder will give a lecture on his book, "Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World."
Kidder's appearance marks the culmination of UF's first Common Reading Program, in which Kidder's book was distributed to all first-year students at last summer's Preview.
Students were expected to have completed it by the beginning of the fall semester.
"It's an introduction to the intellectual community as it exists here at UF," said Leslie Hahn, assistant director of New Student Programs. "It's almost their first college assignment, if you will, and it kind of sets the tone and the expectations that we have here of our students."
A committee of faculty, staff and students selected "Mountains Beyond Mountains" from a pool of five finalists.
"We were looking for a book that was global in focus and nature and something that was interesting and would resonate with first-year students, something that might help them think outside the box a little bit more," Hahn said.
The nonfiction book focuses on Dr. Paul Farmer, an anthropologist and medical doctor.
As part of a study experience in medical school, Farmer went to Haiti, where he realized the health-care system was practically nonexistent. As a result, he created a nonprofit organization, Partners in Health, which still exists.
Kidder will sign books after the event, and students are strongly encouraged to bring their copies.
No books will be sold at the event.
Tickets for the lecture are required, but are free and may be picked up at 5:30 p.m. at the Phillips Center. Doors open at 6 p.m.
Next year's Common Reading Program will feature a new book, and students are encouraged to submit recommendations on the New Student Programs Web site.
