Tracy Kidder

Tracy Kidder
Tracy Kidder at the College of Wooster, 2009
Tracy Kidder at the College of Wooster, 2009
Born (1945-11-12) November 12, 1945 (age 78)
New York City
Alma materHarvard University
University of Iowa
GenreNon-fiction
Literary movementLiterary journalism
Notable worksThe Soul of a New Machine
Mountains Beyond Mountains
Notable awardsPulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction
1982 The Soul of a New Machine
SpouseFrances[1]
ChildrenNathaniel T. Kidder, Alice Bukhman

John Tracy Kidder (born November 12, 1945) is an American writer of nonfiction books. He received the Pulitzer Prize for his The Soul of a New Machine (1981), 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 physician and anthropologist, titled Mountains Beyond Mountains (2003).

Kidder is considered a literary journalist because of the strong story line and personal voice in his writing.[2]: 5  He has cited as his writing influences John McPhee, A. J. Liebling, and George Orwell.[3]: 127–128  In a 1984 interview he said, "McPhee has been my model. He's the most elegant of all the journalists writing today, I think."[2]: 7 

Kidder wrote in a 1994 essay, "In fiction, believability may have nothing to do with reality or even plausibility. It has everything to do with those things in nonfiction. I think that the nonfiction writer's fundamental job is to make what is true believable."[4]

  1. ^ "On Main Street With Tracy Kidder". partners.nytimes.com. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  2. ^ a b Sims, Norman (1984). Sims, Norman (ed.). The Literary Journalists. Ballantine Books. pp. 3–25. ISBN 978-0-345-31081-1.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference DLB was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Kidder, Tracy (February 1994). "Facts and the nonfiction writer". The Writer. 107 (2): 14–16. ISSN 0043-9517.

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