Strength in What Remains (Random House Reader's Circle)

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • An “extraordinarily stirring” (The Washington Post) account of one man’s inspiring American journey and of the ordinary people who helped him, from the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Mountains Beyond Mountains

“A tale of unspeakable barbarism and unshakeable strength.”—Time (Ten Best Nonfiction Books of the Year)

“This book is one not to be missed. . . . Deo’s resilience, his struggle to overcome adversity, strikes a chord in all of us. His story reaffirms our hope that one person can make a difference.”—The Seattle Times

Deo arrives in the United States from Burundi in search of a new life. Having survived a civil war and genocide, he lands at JFK airport with two hundred dollars, no English, and no contacts. He ekes out a precarious existence delivering groceries, living in Central Park, and learning English by reading dictionaries in bookstores. Then Deo begins to meet the strangers who will change his life, pointing him eventually in the direction of Columbia University, medical school, and a life devoted to healing.

Providing brilliant testament to the power of will and second chances, Kidder breaks new ground in telling this unforgettable story as he travels with Deo back over a turbulent life in search of meaning and forgiveness—and shows us what it means to be fully human.

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, Publishers Weekly

Tracy Kidder graduated from Harvard and the University of Iowa. He won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, the Robert F. Kennedy Award, and many other literary prizes. He is the author of Rough Sleepers, A Truck Full of Money, Good Prose (with Richard Todd), Strength in What Remains, My Detachment, Mountains Beyond Mountains, Home Town, Old Friends, Among Schoolchildren, House, and The Soul of a New Machine. Kidder passed away in 2026.