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A powerful portrayal of Jeffrey Sachss ambitious quest to end global povertyThe poor you will always have with you, to cite the Gospel of Matthew 2611. Jeffrey Sachscelebrated economist, special advisor to the Secretary General of the United Nations, and author of the influential bestsellerThe End of Povertydisagrees. In his view, poverty is a problem that can be solved. With single-minded determination he has attempted to put into practice his theories about endingextremepoverty, to prove that the worlds most destitute people can be lifted onto the ladder of development.In 2006, Sachs launchedthe Millennium Villages Project,a daring five-year experiment designed to test his theories in Africa.The first Millennium village was in Sauri, a remote cluster of farming communities in western Kenya.
About the Author
Nina Munk, a contributing editor at Vanity Fair, is a journalist and author whose work has appeared in Vanity Fair, The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times, The New Yorker, and Fortune. Among other literary prizes, she has been awarded three Business Journalist of the Year Awards (including "most outstanding winner of all categories") and three Front Page Awards. Her article about mismanagement at Harvard University was shortlisted for a Gerald Loeb Award and is included in "The Great Hangover: 21 Tales of the New Recession from the Pages of Vanity Fair."
Nina's newest book is "The Idealist: Jeffrey Sachs and the Quest to End Poverty," the profound and moving story of what happens when the abstract theories of a brilliant, driven man meet the messy reality of human life. Deeply reported over a period of more than six years, "The Idealist" is the result of repeated journeys to sub-Saharan Africa where Nina not only sat in on Sachs's official meetings with heads-of-state, but also immersed herself in the lives of people in two isolated villages, Ruhiira, in southwest Uganda, and Dertu, on the arid border of Kenya and Somalia. Accepting the hospitality of camel herders and small-hold farmers, and witnessing their struggle to survive, Nina reveals clearly and empathetically the hurdles that lie on the path to ending global poverty.
"The Idealist," nominated for the Lionel Gelber Prize and a finalist for the Governor General's Award and the National Business Book Award, has been widely praised. Reviewers have described it as "masterful," "incisive," "fascinating," "sharply rendered," and "riveting." It has been named a Book of the Year by The Spectator, Forbes, and Bloomberg, among others.
Nina's book "Fools Rush In: Steve Case, Jerry Levin, and the Unmaking of AOL Time Warner" has been described by critics as a "tour de force" and "an addictive read." The New York Times Book Review lauded Fools Rush In for its "exemplary reporting" and its "lively, lucid writing."
"The Art of Clairtone: The Making of a Design Icon, 1958-1971," which Nina co-wrote with curator Rachel Gotlieb, records the sensational rise and collapse of the celebrated stereo manufacturer Clairtone Sound Corp. The book led to an important exhibition of Clairtone stereos and artifacts at the Design Exchange museum in Toronto .
Born in Canada and raised in Switzerland, Nina Munk lives in New York City. She has a Bachelor's degree in comparative literature from Smith College and a Master's degree in French language and literature from Middlebury College. She earned a second Master's, with honors, from the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University, where she was awarded the Philip Greer Scholarship Award for Financial Writing
