The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures

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The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures

4.11 of 5 stars 4.11 · rating details · 22,957 ratings · 2,641 reviews

Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction

When three-month-old Lia Lee Arrived at the county hospital emergency room in Merced, California, a chain of events was set in motion from which neither she nor her parents nor her doctors would ever recover. Lia's parents, Foua and Nao Kao, were part of a large Hmong community in Merced, refugees from the CIA-...more

Paperback, 341 pages

Published September 30th 1998 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (first published 1997)

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Feb 11, 2011 Inder rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history, culture, disease, health, law, ethnography, read-2007, california, southeast-asia

This is the heartbreaking story of Lia, a Hmong girl with epilepsy in Merced. It is intended to be an ethnography, describing two different cultural approaches to Lia's sickness: her Hmong parents' and her American doctors'.

Don't read any further unless you don't mind knowing the basic story told in this book (there are no spoilers, since this is not a book with a surprise ending, but if you want to keep a completely open mind, stop now) ...

I have wavered between four and five stars for this on...more

24 likes · like · see review

Oct 13, 2007 Lisa Vegan rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone who has interest in understanding people different from them

Shelves: bookclub, reviewed, biography, non-fiction, social-culture, history, science, altta

I knew a little about this case, and before I read the book, I was certain I’d feel infuriated with the Hmong family and feel nothing but disrespect for them, and would side with the American side, even though I have my issues with the western medical establishment as well. Not that I didn’t feel angry (and amused) at times with both sides, but I also ended up empathizing with the people in both sides of this culture clash, which is a testament to Anne Fadiman’s account of the events. My culture...more

20 likes · like · see review

Jul 27, 2012 Teresa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Teresa by: rhea

A book like this one should be required reading for anyone who lives in a community of multicultural members, and nowadays that's probably just about everyone. Sadly, and not surprisingly, those who would probably most benefit from a book like this would probably be the ones least likely to read it.

It's an eye-opener on cross-cultural issues, especially those in the medical field, but also in the religious, as the Hmong don't distinguish between the two. In understandable and compelling language...more

14 likes · like · see review

Jul 12, 2007 Eric rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: human nature considerers, foreign culture sponges

This is one of the best books I've read. I guess it would be considered part of the medical anthropology genre, but it's so compelling that it sheds that very dry, nerdly-sounding label. This was recommended to me in a cultural literacy course and it certainly delivered.

The story is of the treatment of the epileptic child of a Hmong immigrant family in the American health system. The issue is the clash of cultures and the confusing and heartbreaking results. And the takeaway lesson is in how to...more

10 likes · like · see review

May 12, 2008 Hamad rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Medical students, anthropologists

Recommended to Hamad by: Academic

The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down may read like a documentary (thanks to Fadiman’s journalistic background), but it is really an introspection on the western system of medicine and science. We cannot ourselves metaphorically stand back and try to look at the system from the outside. However, comparing it to another (supposedly antithetical) system through the experiences of the Hmong refugees can be used as a tool to do just that. The Hmong’s presumed non-separation of any of the dimensio...more The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down may read like a documentary (thanks to Fadiman’s journalistic background), but it is really an introspection on the western system of medicine and science. We cannot ourselves metaphorically stand back and try to look at the system from the outside. However, comparing it to another (supposedly antithetical) system through the experiences of the Hmong refugees can be used as a tool to do just that. The Hmong’s presumed non-separation of any of the dimensions of life (least of all the physical) is a good contrast to the western notion of categorization and separation of the physical, emotional, spiritual and mental. This categorization is a manifestation of the desire for control – labeling and naming are just the initial objectives of this desire. In contrast, the Hmong view control quite differently. Given such vast differences on such fundamental aspects, one wonders if the result could have turned out another way at all.

Categorization and classification is the ‘bread-and-butter’ of science. It is supposed to be ‘rational’ and evidence-based. Western medicine seems to not only classify problems into different aspects of the overall human – physical, mental, emotional and spiritual, it tends to also over-categorize – different physicians for different organs or diseases, specialization etc. On the other hand, according to Fadiman, the Hmong don’t even bother with the separation of these different aspects; they do not even have a concept of ‘organs’ making up a human body. There is definitely no separation between the physical and the spiritual. Fadiman’s observation of the Hmong obsession with American medicine and the behavior and attitudes of American doctors delineates this point clearly. This lack of categorization also goes beyond the individual and is reflected by a relatively classless structure of Hmong society: Fadiman points out that the Hmong do not separate themselves by class, and live by a more egalitarian standard.

The need to classify and categorize stems from a desire to control. By classifying organisms into different species, genus or families, we try to exert control over nature. By categorizing people according to gender, class and race we try to assign people different roles and duties, further illustrating society’s desire to control individual lives - to maintain ‘order’. This desire is more so present in medicine, where we explicitly try to control disease, pain, suffering and eventually life (or death). Since the Hmong concepts of separation are close to non-existent, their view is that of ‘letting go’. Fadiman observes how holistic their approach is compared to the approach of the American physicians by showing that even though the Lees cared a great deal for Lia (and loved her unconditionally), they still tried to persuade the spirit to let go of Lia’s soul so it would come back to her. The American doctors, however, got progressively invasive trying, in vain, to assert more control over the situation by intubating, restraining and over-prescribing.

Given this discordance in the fundamentals of each culture’s worldview, the question that begs to be answered is: could things have gone differently? The Lees at one point acceded that they would be willing to use a combination of therapies both from their culture and their recently adopted culture, but would the physicians have complied to it as well? Given the history of discrimination in this country, would it be wise to go back to ‘separate but equal’? These are only some of the questions that arise from the book. There may be fundamental differences between two cultures, but could there also be fundamental similarities? (less)

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Feb 25, 2008 Robbin rated it 5 of 5 stars

i read this book for a class i am taking called "human behavior and the social environment." it tells the story of a Hmong family in california with a little girl who has epilepsy. their experience as refugees who are illiterate and unable to speak english, traversing the american medical system ends up tragic. however, the author is really good at giving voice to both sides, the western doctors (impatient, overworked, stubborn, judgmental, dedicated) and the Hmong family (impatient, overworked,...more i read this book for a class i am taking called "human behavior and the social environment." it tells the story of a Hmong family in california with a little girl who has epilepsy. their experience as refugees who are illiterate and unable to speak english, traversing the american medical system ends up tragic. however, the author is really good at giving voice to both sides, the western doctors (impatient, overworked, stubborn, judgmental, dedicated) and the Hmong family (impatient, overworked, stubborn, judgmental, loving). at their wit's end the doctors have the little girl removed from the home and placed into foster care. the foster family not only falls in love with lia (the epileptic toddler) but they fall in love with the family. perhaps, the first and only time in history the foster mother even allows the so-called abusive mother baby-sit her OWN children while she takes lia to one of her appointments. through a series of events lia ends up in a vegetative state (and at that point her epilepsy in her brain dead state is actually cured), and she is returned home to die. but she doesn't. the Hmong family keeps her alive with their love and care, something the doctors had never witnessed. on their own terms, they continue to feed her, bathe her, and watch over her literally 24 hours a day (she sleeps in the bed with the mother every night). she continues to grow with rosy skin and healthy hair, and the Hmong family continues to believe that the western doctors and their medicine actually made her seizures and illness worse. anyone going into the medical/social work/psychology field should read this book.

what could be lost in the story is the background the author gives to the story of the Hmong, a culture and people that have been continuously marginalized and persecuted in every society they have lived in. nomadic to escape assimilation, they remain a strong and loyal group of people with a complex system of justice and care. they also fight the US government's "secret war" against the communists and bare the brunt of the CIA's unsuccessful agenda. (less)

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Feb 18, 2008 Chelsea rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, socialcommentary, 2008

Fadiman wrote a fascinating and sympathetic story about a culture that couldn't be much farther removed from ours in the West. It was especially interesting reading it right after Hitchen's God Is Not Great, because, theoretically, had there been no religion involved there wouldn't have been a real culture clash, and Lia could have grown up as an epileptic but functioning girl. Maybe.

But that's not really the point of Fadiman's book: she doesn't condemn anyone, and, in fact, she points out that...more

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Oct 09, 2007 Samantha Newman rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction

I never would have chosen this book to read on my own. So I must thank Eliza for lending it to me. (I now feel like lending/recommending a book proves friendship...)

I didn't know anything about Hmong culture and now I do. This book also taught me about the American medical system - it looks strange when you step back.

It would have been a good book for me to read when I was in Japan, too, because it kind of opened me up to the idea that people of other cultures can really be sooo different. It's...more

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Sep 02, 2007 Merritt rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: memoirs

An interesting story that highlights the many cultural differences between Americans and our immigrants (in this case the Hmong culture). Lia Lee is a Hmong child with severe epilepsy and the American doctors trying to treat her clash over her entire life with her parents, who are also trying to treat her condition. Fadiman walks a fine line in describing the story fairly from both perspectives; however, it's difficult, as an American, to not feel some anger toward this girl's family. I learned...more

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Aug 16, 2007 Ngoc rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: schooldays

This book is sooo good! I especially like the story of Lina and her family and their struggles. I think the book could have been shorter if they didn't go into so much depth about the interworkings of the social service and medical systems. Yes it's messed up and cultural competency is lacking. I liked that it gave enough information to show how the family was treated injustly and Lina couldn't get the medical treatment she needed because the doctors and parents weren't communicating. They all w...more

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Sep 17, 2012 Mmars rated it 5 of 5 stars

There are so many valuable aspects to this book it's hard to decide what to mention. Having just learned that Lia, the subject of the book, passed away within the last week I'd like to express sheer admiration to her family, and especially her parents, for loving and caring for her for so many years.

Along with a large influx of Hmong, Lia lived in Oakland when she experienced her first seizures. The Hmong and their language and their culture were yet virtually unknown and entirely misunderstood...more

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Aug 14, 2010 Crawford marked it as to-read

Shelves: recommended

Educational warning: This book will teach you something important about non-compliant patients.

The title of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is the literal translation of the Hmong words for epilepsy. All doctors know about epilepsy; virtually none know about the Hmong people. They are an ethnic group who lived in China for hundreds of years.

The Hmong have often been thought of as "outsiders." Over the centuries they have resisted taming by various domineering governments and oppressors....more Educational warning: This book will teach you something important about non-compliant patients.

The title of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is the literal translation of the Hmong words for epilepsy. All doctors know about epilepsy; virtually none know about the Hmong people. They are an ethnic group who lived in China for hundreds of years.

The Hmong have often been thought of as "outsiders." Over the centuries they have resisted taming by various domineering governments and oppressors. When things get tough the Hmong often move on. In recent times their main homeland has been in Laos.

During the Vietnam war and its aftermath things got particularly difficult for the Hmong, and many ended up in the United States. Some came as a reward for having fought on behalf of the Americans as part of the little known Laotian Armée Clandestine.

The Lee family, the subject of this account by the journalist Anne Fadiman, left their home in Laos and now live in Merced County, California. They spent some time in two Thai refugee camps before they came to the US.

The Lee’s 14th child, Lia, was the first to be born in the US. When she was about 3 months old Lia had her first epileptic fit. Her mother and father, Foua and Nao Kao, immediately made the correct diagnosis. And they knew the cause of the problem: Lia’s soul had fled her body and become lost. As loving parents they were, of course, concerned about the loss of their daughter’s soul. The epilepsy was less of a problem for them, because epileptic people have a special place in their society, and many Hmong people with epilepsy go on to becomes healers and shamans.

Much of the rest of the book—I don’t want to ruin it for you—is the story of how caring California doctors failed to tune in to the Lees’ interpretation of their daughter’s epilepsy. US paediatricians, it seems, don’t know how to find a lost Hmong soul. (The US medical curriculum has other gaps: it doesn’t include other common causes of illness, such as urinating on a rock that looks like a tiger and failing to ejaculate completely during sexual intercourse.)

I first read this book about 10 years ago. Since then it has frequently impinged on my consciousness in my working life as a GP. Although it is a tale about an unknown family from a faraway place, it exemplifies all the things that make for a great medical classic. In such a work I look for durability, excellent writing, and some messages that will outlast fashion. If I’m lucky I will also find humour, exceptional humanity and insight, and a gripping narrative.

Ten years after my first reading it is just as exciting as when I first picked it up. The writing is economical and correct—not too many adjectives, but superb descriptions of people and events. The sentiments are deeply human, the storyline is compelling, and the book has helped me understand some of my most puzzling patients.

No medical student should be allowed to graduate without reading this book. Doctors who are infuriated by their patients’ lack of "compliance" should read it without delay.

Cite this as: BMJ 2010;341:c3524(less)

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Jan 31, 2009 Heather rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: bio-memoir, education-social-justice, psychology, religion-spirituality

Anne Fadiman addresses a number of difficult topics in her depiction of a Hmong couple's quest to restore the soul to their child. While I consider myself a culturally sensitive individual, having been raised in a family of doctors and nurses, I have long held the conviction that the world's best doctors (whether imported or native) tread on American soil. Reading Fadiman's account (which sometimes includes actual excerpts from the patient's charts), I was forced to take a hard look at my assump...more Anne Fadiman addresses a number of difficult topics in her depiction of a Hmong couple's quest to restore the soul to their child. While I consider myself a culturally sensitive individual, having been raised in a family of doctors and nurses, I have long held the conviction that the world's best doctors (whether imported or native) tread on American soil. Reading Fadiman's account (which sometimes includes actual excerpts from the patient's charts), I was forced to take a hard look at my assumptions. In the course of reading this book, I have redefined my idea of what constitutes a good doctor.

Fadiman spent hundreds of hours interviewing doctors, social workers, members of the Hmong community--anyone who was somehow involved in Lia Lee's medical nightmare. She pored over years of medical records, trying to make sense of the events that caused a spirited, loving toddler to slowly devolve into a vegetative state. What she found was that the doctors' orders, prescribed medications, hospital care, etc., were all based on a number of Western assumptions that did not take the family's (and child's) best interests into consideration. No attempt was made to understand how the family saw the disease or what efforts they were making on their own to address the situation. More than a translator, what doctors and other professionals involved in Lia's case needed was a "cultural broker" who could have stepped in and possibly saved Lia's brain from further deterioration.

Fadiman's book is a difficult read, not because of specialized vocabulary or lofty philosophical concepts, but because there comes a point when the reader realizes that the barriers faced by those involved were much more cultural than they were linguistic. In a very real way, the Lees inhabited a different world than the doctors, and vice-versa. Each assumed that their way was best, and neither made a genuine effort to understand the other's motivations, much less their logic. In the end, there was no simple solution to their plight, but more mutual respect and understanding of the differences between the cultures would have benefitted everyone involved.

If there is a moral to Fadiman's work, it may be this: The best doctors are not those who know the most, but rather those who admit what they do not know, and try to understand the full picture. Good doctors may treat the disease, but the best doctors treat the individual. (less)

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Apr 12, 2009 Sarah Pi rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, brains, favorites

Amazing book. In my work with people with developmental disabilities and epilepsy, I've seen a lot of examples of the disconnect between doctor and patient -- and that's even when both speak a common language and have a common cultural understanding of their roles. This book tells the story of an extreme example, in which the patient's parents neither understood the doctors nor trusted them, and the medical system held a reciprocal inability to understand where the family was coming from. In tel...more

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Dec 29, 2008 Liz rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a fabulous book. I read it several years ago when we were beginning to learn about the Hmong people coming to California and to our schools. I reread it last week after reading Fieldwork (and finding out the the tribe of people he writes about is made up) in order to get a better sense of what people from the hill tribes in Southeast Asia believe, think, and experience. In the case of this book, those thoughts and experiences are in direct conflict with the new country of residence for t...more

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Oct 25, 2008 Kara rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction

This book is a nonfiction look at the Hmong people, a Laotian ethnic group many of whom have come to the U.S. as refugees in the decades after they supported the U.S. against the communists in Laos, and the roots and impacts of the cultural misunderstandings that have inevitably arisen between the Hmong and America. A book club favorite, I believe (which is, of course, why I read it).

It alternates between chapters covering cultural history of the Hmong and chapters that focus on the case study...more

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Nov 26, 2007 Reid Mortimer rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone!

Born in 1981, Lia Lee was the daughter of Hmong immigrants new to the United States, who knew little English and little understanding of American culture. Soon after she was born, Lia starts having seizures that are soon diagnosed as epilepsy.
The book is the story of Lia’s life, and the battle to keep her alive. Her parents, with their own strong Hmong cultural beliefs, credited Lia’s seizures to an incident that happened right before her first seizure, when her older sister slammed the door,...more

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Sep 10, 2007 Jenna rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: asian-or-asian-american

Extraordinarily well-researched nonfiction book whose author earnestly sought to understand how a medical tragedy involving a young Hmong girl came to take place. The chapter about the involvement of the Hmong people in the Vietnam War should be required reading for all Americans, if only because we shouldn't forget how much we owe these people or what far-reaching ramifications a short-sighted foreign policy can have. Like "Mountains Beyond Mountains," this book makes the argument that science...more

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Dec 30, 2007 Anne rated it 4 of 5 stars

Every once in awhile I start reading a book and I just want to rush out and tell everyone about it. This is one of those books. This is the story of Lia Lee, a newborn Hmong girl living in Merced, California with her parents and seven siblings. Her parents speak no English, and when Lia begins suffering from epilleptic seizures, they reluctantly take her to the nearby hospital. From there, this book chronicles the vast cultural differences between mainstream Americans and the Hmong, and how lang...more

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Jan 29, 2009 OneWorldLibrary Project rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction, hmong, adult, medicine, spirituality, colliding-cultures

Jan 26, 2009 Ann rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: medicine, 2009

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is the clash between western medicine and Hmong ritual healing as played out in the care of Lia Lee, a child with epilepsy. Author Anne Fadiman does an incredible job explaining the conflict, because I felt great frustration and great compassion for both the Lee family and the doctors, in succession as the story unfolded. The cultural barrier was often more insurmountable than the language barrier in trying to find common ground between the two worlds.

How...more

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Dec 27, 2007 Naeem rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

So close and yet so far.

Fadiman sets up an epistemological encounters between US doctors and Hmong culture. The life of a young woman is at stake.

The book is well written, well researched, and Fadiman's heart seems to be in the right place.

The book fails however. Ultimately, as hard as she tries, Fadiman cannot overcome her biases. That would be less of a problem if she did not want to come across as "objective."

A touch of theory and a bit of world history might have been enough to take Fadima...more

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anne Naeem,

I don't understand your critique here. I feel like Fadiman included a lot of history. Is it possible that you missed the understanding here and...more Naeem,

I don't understand your critique here. I feel like Fadiman included a lot of history. Is it possible that you missed the understanding here and not her?

I read this book in the context of having just completed a Needs Assessment for the county I live in on unmet mental health needs (we did one for alcohol/drug needs the year before) and it seems like this book explains in rich detail the depth of problems that face so many people in varying degrees.

We heard over and over about the need for "cultural competency" and for multiple languages so that inappropriate translators (children, janitors etc) are not being used (often leading to critical mistakes). Not only from immigrants, but from African-Americans, second and third generation Latino-Americans and other people who spoke perfect (sometimes ONLY) English.

But it wasn't until I read this book (and I tell you I spent maybe a hundred hours steeped in contemplation of this question while we were doing the needs assessment) that I understood the urgency.

Fadiman succeeds in empathizing with both the Western doctors and the Hmong parents/community. The particular power for me was that she traced the miscommunication back in both directions to fundamental cultural ideas and meanings attached to them often without questioning, (something you suggested in your most recent comment on the KR). Ideas that are never discussed in a physical or mental health triage session. Can you imagine if a nurse asked you whether you believed in an afterlife? Or whether you prayed? Or how you defined the essence of the human being?

I feel like Fadiman also made it clear that while the Hmong family approached Westerners with suspicion, they at least acknowledged that there were some things it was good for, whereas the Westerners were unyielding in their belief that their medicine was the ONLY option - not out of malice or explicit sense of superiority, but out of outright ignorance, which had bred an unconscious denial of all things Other in the field of medicine.

Since my own collisions of this sort are limited to my angry frustrations when my doctor tells me all she can do is write a prescription when I am sick and need a hug more than anything, I realize that there may be some nuance that she missed.

But if there is, I don't hear you pointing it out.

I will say that I thought the book was longer than it needed to be, and often found myself skipping over pages when players were re-introduced, or ideas re-iterated for a second or third time.

Looking forward to your response,
anne.(less)
Mar 21, 2008 04:16pm

Naeem Anne,

You are correct to point to the abstract nature of my critique. My problem is that I read this book some many years ago and cannot quite recall...more
Mar 21, 2008 05:07pm

Naeem Anne,

I have found my copy of Fadiman's books and in the back I have found my list of criticism. I will reproduce the list for you. Not that the list w...more
Nov 12, 2008 12:48pm

Apr 03, 2009 Christopher Mims rated it 5 of 5 stars

All I remember about this book is that I have been searching for it ever since I read half of a friend's copy in college and then forgot the title - that and a few scenes. Unbelievably vivid.

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Nov 25, 2008 Ianthe rated it 5 of 5 stars

It;s incredible that this is non fiction. It reads like a novel, so rich in description and pathos. I learned a lot about a culture I had never heard of. The Hmong people. It's also an in depth look into our health care system.

1 like · like · see review

Dec 30, 2010 Christina rated it 5 of 5 stars

Fascinating, moving work of nonfiction! Here's my review: http://thebluebookcase.blogspot.com/2...
I really, really wish Ms. Fadiman would publish an updated edition. Or maybe just a "where are they now" appendix. 1997 was a long time ago.

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Aug 28, 2008 Carol rated it 4 of 5 stars

A very interesting read -- I knew next to nothing about the Hmong culture before reading this book. It's a true story about a Hmong girl with Epilepsy and communication struggles between the girl's family and their doctors in California. I read it a couple of years ago but still think about the things I learned. I do remember that at times it was more detailed than I would prefer, and sometimes the author would site several examples to illustrate a point, so it felt a bit repetitive. Nonetheless...more

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Apr 14, 2008 Janis rated it 5 of 5 stars

This account of Lia (a Hmong child), her parents, and her western doctors as they all struggle with her epilepsy is heart-breaking and entirely fascinating. The title is a translation of the Hmong phrase for epilepsy and makes clear that the Hmong people feel this is a spiritual crisis. This belief and other Hmong beliefs and practices clash with the intentions and advice of Lia's doctors, with tragic consequences. I could almost feel myself changing as I read this book, in the same way that the...more

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Feb 28, 2009 Shane Jaynes rated it 4 of 5 stars

One of the themes that recurred throughout Fadiman's telling of this tragic turn of events is how the Hmong people and various iterations of American culture(medicine to be sure, but also the public assistance, child protection, etc.) see one another ethnocentrically. She memorably describes this as each party turning the other's "gold into dross." I was pleased at this even-handed assessment. It made me reflect on the fallability we carry as individuals and the need for humilty and curiosity ab...more

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Jan 17, 2009 Rachel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

By intertwining the investigation of a community hospital's failure to work effectively with a young Hmong's girl's family to treat her severe epilepsy and a brief history of the Hmong people, Fadiman manages to raise salient points about the role of healthcare in any culture, the role of healthcare in American culture, and the relationship between the American government, local communities, and refugee immigrants. Although the story of Lia Lee and her family could have been told chronologically...more

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May 15, 2013 Kent rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a wonderful book about displaced people (Hmong) with a strong but decidedly non-western culture in America, and particularly with the American medical system. As a physician, I can appreciate the difficulties of cross-cultural medicine, but more than that of listening and being able to listen to patients and what the believe and accepting that our answers in western scientific medicine are not always the right answers for everyone, even those in our own culture. Sometimes we do not reali...more

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About Anne Fadiman

Anne Fadiman, the daughter of Annalee Whitmore Jacoby Fadiman, a screenwriter and foreign correspondent, and Clifton Fadiman, an essayist and critic, was born in New York City in 1953. She graduated in 1975 from Harvard College, where she began her writing career as the undergraduate columnist at Harvard Magazine. For many years, she was a writer and columnist for Life, and later an Editor-at-Larg...more

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“The action most worth watching is not at the center of things, but where edges meet.” — 11 people liked it

“If the soul cannot find its jacket. it is condemned to an eternity of wandering--naked and alone” — 7 people liked it

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title link	preview: The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures
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BBCode	[url=https://www.goodreadsbookswap.com/book/show/12609.The_Spirit_Catches_You_and_You_Fall_Down?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1315597069l/12609.jpg[/img][/url] [url=https://www.goodreadsbookswap.com/book/show/12609.The_Spirit_Catches_You_and_You_Fall_Down?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures by Anne Fadiman[/url]

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures

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