false 12609 7 Lia Lee was born in 1981 to a family of recent Hmong immigrants, and soon developed symptoms of epilepsy. By 1988 she was living at home but was brain dead after a tragic cycle of misunderstanding, overmedication, and culture clash: "What the doctors viewed as clinical efficiency the Hmong viewed as frosty arrogance." <i>The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down</i> is a tragedy of Shakespearean dimensions, written with the deepest of human feeling. Sherwin Nuland said of the account, "There are no villains in Fadiman's tale, just as there are no heroes. People are presented as she saw them, in their humility and their frailty--and their nobility." 14895 1997 The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down total:8021|5:3142|4:3224|3:1316|2:286|1:53| 8021 33179 10945 1425 4 8 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Fri Aug 03 13:48:10 -0700 2007 Wed Sep 12 16:08:08 -0700 2007
I have wavered between four and five stars for this one. The boo...more...]]> 5 6 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Jun 24 22:23:33 -0700 2007 Sat Oct 13 23:42:46 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 4 false false Wed Feb 06 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 04 20:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Feb 06 16:48:49 -0800 2008
I loved this book.

I learned a lot, and the story is compelling and well-told. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is the story of Lia Lee, a Hmong girl living in Merced, California, who began to have epileptic seizures as an infant. Her parents, recent immigrants, ...more...]]> 3 3 false false Thu May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Feb 18 12:41:02 -0800 2008 Mon May 12 11:03:28 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 2 false false Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 25 19:49:57 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 25 20:08:00 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 2 false false Mon Feb 18 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Nov 26 12:25:07 -0800 2007 Mon Feb 18 13:06:15 -0800 2008 God Is Not Great, because, theoretically, had there been no religion involved there wouldn't have been a real...more...]]> 4 2 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Sep 30 15:43:58 -0700 2007 Tue Oct 09 10:49:18 -0700 2007
I didn't know anything about Hmong culture and now I do. This book also taught me about the American medical system - it lo...more...]]> 5 2 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2002 Thu Aug 16 16:57:59 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 16 16:57:59 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon Sep 15 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Mar 12 09:10:53 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 15 12:58:05 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Jan 31 20:15:30 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 31 20:22:12 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Sun Apr 12 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jan 21 08:13:43 -0800 2009 Sun Apr 12 14:28:27 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Sun Dec 21 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 29 15:34:06 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 29 15:40:13 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Oct 26 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Oct 22 11:17:59 -0700 2008 Sat Oct 25 07:59:46 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Nov 26 22:50:21 -0800 2007 Mon Nov 26 23:10:57 -0800 2007 The book is the story of Lia’s life, and the ...more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Mon Sep 10 11:06:37 -0700 2007 Mon Sep 10 12:37:57 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 2 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Sun Sep 02 11:44:33 -0700 2007 Sun Sep 02 11:52:43 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Mon Nov 05 13:54:34 -0800 2007 Sun Dec 30 09:17:35 -0800 2007 more...]]> 5 1 false false Thu Jan 29 17:56:10 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 29 17:56:10 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Thu Jul 12 15:29:52 -0700 2007 Thu Jul 12 15:29:52 -0700 2007
The story is of ...more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon Jan 26 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Aug 04 19:56:00 -0700 2007 Mon Jan 26 12:55:32 -0800 2009 more...]]>