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Tracy Kidder

トレイシー・キダー

Toreishī Kidā

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1945-11-12 （New York City）
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
New York City → Cambridge, Massachusetts → Holyoke, Massachusetts

Career

Occupations
Non-fiction author, Journalist
Active Years
1974-
Affiliations
Harvard Kennedy School Shorenstein Center (A. M. Rosenthal Writer-in-Residence)
Influenced By
John McPhee, A. J. Liebling, George Orwell

Education

Phillips Academy (Andover)
Period: 1959–1963
Year of Graduation: 1963
Country: United States
Completed secondary education
Harvard University (Harvard College)
Undergraduate (initially Political Science, later English) / English
Degree: AB
Period: 1963–1967
Year of Graduation: 1967
Country: United States
Switched to English after a creative writing course
University of Iowa (Iowa Writers' Workshop)
MFA program / Creative Writing
Degree: MFA
Period: 1970s–1974
Year of Graduation: 1974
Country: United States
Completed the Iowa Writers' Workshop

Awards

Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction
1982
Work: The Soul of a New Machine
Category: General Nonfiction
Organization: Columbia University (Pulitzer Prize)
Result: 受賞
National Book Award for Nonfiction
1982
Work: The Soul of a New Machine
Category: General Nonfiction（ハードカバー部門）
Organization: National Book Foundation
Result: 受賞
Robert F. Kennedy Book Award
1990
Work: Among Schoolchildren
Organization: Robert F. Kennedy Memorial
Result: 受賞
L. L. Winship/PEN New England Award
1990
Work: Among Schoolchildren
Organization: PEN New England
Result: 受賞
Ambassador Book Award (American Studies)
1990
Work: Among Schoolchildren
Category: American Studies
Organization: English-Speaking Union of the United States
Result: 受賞
Golden Plate Award
2001
Organization: American Academy of Achievement
Result: 受賞
Lettre Ulysses Award (2nd prize)
2004
Work: Mountains Beyond Mountains
Organization: Lettre International
Result: 第2位

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Soul of a New Machine

1981 Non-fiction (technology / literary journalism) 320 pages

A narrative account of the engineers and developers at Data General creating a new computer, combining technical detail with human portraiture; awarded the Pulitzer Prize.

Technology and human dynamicsWorkplace cultureInnovation

Among Schoolchildren

1989 Non-fiction (education / social) 320 pages

Follows a year in an elementary school classroom in Holyoke, Massachusetts, portraying the teacher and 20 students to reflect on American education and community.

EducationCommunityChild development

Mountains Beyond Mountains

2003 Non-fiction (biography / medicine) 352 pages

A portrait of physician-anthropologist Paul Farmer and his work on global health, poverty, and social justice.

Global healthPoverty and social justiceIndividual agency

Strength in What Remains

2009 Non-fiction (memoir / humanitarian) 320 pages

Portrait of a man who survived the Burundi genocide and rebuilt his life in the United States.

Survival and recoveryImmigrant experienceHumanitarianism

Good Prose: The Art of Nonfiction

2013 Non-fiction (writing craft) 256 pages

A guide on the craft and ethics of nonfiction writing, co-written with editor Richard Todd.

Writing craftJournalistic ethicsEditing and shaping work

Rough Sleepers: Dr. Jim O'Connell's Urgent Mission to Bring Healing to Homeless People

2023 Non-fiction (medicine / social) 320 pages

Examines Dr. Jim O'Connell's work with homeless populations and the role of medicine in addressing urban homelessness.

Homelessness supportUrban medicineSocial inclusion

Bibliography

  • The Road to Yuba City: A Journey into the Juan Corona Murders (1974)
  • The Soul of a New Machine (1981)
  • House (1985)
  • Among Schoolchildren (1989)
  • Old Friends (1993)
  • Home Town (1999)
  • Mountains Beyond Mountains (2003)
  • My Detachment: A Memoir (2005)
  • Strength in What Remains (2009)
  • Good Prose: The Art of Nonfiction (2013)
  • A Truck Full of Money: One Man's Quest to Recover from Great Success (2016)
  • Rough Sleepers (2023)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Literary journalismNarrative nonfictionDetail-oriented reportage
Recurring Motifs
Examining institutions through individual storiesDepictions of professional worldsFocus on medicine, education and technology

Legacy

Tracy Kidder is highly regarded as a nonfiction writer who portrays diverse fields—technology, education, medicine—with careful on-the-ground reporting and human insight. He won the Pulitzer Prize for The Soul of a New Machine and is considered a leading figure in American literary journalism.

Quotes

  • In fiction, believability may have nothing to do with reality or even plausibility. I think that the nonfiction writer's fundamental job is to make what is true believable.
    Source: The Writer (1994) (1994)

Trivia

  • Served as a first lieutenant in U.S. Army Military Intelligence in Vietnam (1967–1969).
  • Has stated he bought back the rights to his first book, The Road to Yuba City, and did not want it to be republished.
  • Spouse: Frances; children: Nathaniel T. Kidder and Alice Bukhman.