Tracy Kidder
Tracy Kidder
John Tracy Kidderis an American writer of nonfiction books. He received the Pulitzer Prize for his The Soul of a New Machine, about the creation of a new computer at Data General Corporation. He has received praise and awards for other works, including his biography of Paul Farmer, a doctor and anthropologist, titled Mountains Beyond Mountains...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionNon-Fiction Author
Date of Birth12 November 1945
CountryUnited States of America
writing thinking people
People say you cant teach writing, but I think thats nonsense.
thinking clothes water
The goofiness of radicals thinking they have to dress in Guatemalan peasant clothes. The poor don't want you to look like them. They want you to dress in a suit and go get them food and water. Comma.
writing thinking shows
I think if the writing comes too easily, it shows - it's usually hard to read.
believe thinking important
I do believe that enduring geological features are important, though I don't think I can be clear about exactly why.
famous landscapes summit view
The view from the summit of Mt. Holyoke has been one of the most famous landscapes in America. And yet, all these things are going on underneath.
good
The world doesn't make much sense to me generally. I don't feel like I'm good at that.
book invite readers stage tried
I wanted some way to invite readers in, to set the stage for the book - and I tried many different things.
advantages began book came dreadful haiti help imagine recently time
At the time I began writing the book about Northampton, I had recently been in Haiti to do a story for the New Yorker. I don't think I would previously have been able to imagine a place as dreadful as Haiti, and when I came back I couldn't help but think about the advantages we have in this place.
amnesia collective distant fact forget forgotten join people seems suffering surrounds
Don't join America's collective amnesia for the suffering that seems so distant but in fact surrounds us, ... Don't forget about the forgotten people in this world.
character create fiction invent suspense techniques writers
I can't invent stuff, but the techniques fiction writers use to create character and suspense can also be used when writing non-fiction.
adolescent feeling incredibly late safer truck
From my experience, sure, if you were a truck driver, you could be incredibly unlucky, ... But I had the feeling that I was safer than I would have been back here as a late adolescent with a car.
cutting night wound
I would read and write all night long and, as a result, wound up cutting a lot of my other classes.
returning seems town wonder
Returning to Northampton, I thought: here's a town that seems to be working pretty well, and I wonder why.
shadow
I was really so afraid. Of my own shadow practically.