University bookshelf: The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman

Thursday, July 21, 2016

“The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down” explores the clash between a small county hospital in California and a refugee family from Laos over the care of a Hmong child diagnosed with severe epilepsy. The cultural conflicts surrounding decisions about her care are insightful and telling. Anne Fadiman’s book is the Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Current Interest and the Salon Book Award.

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman - Available from Macmillan Publishers
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down

By Anne Fadiman
1997

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down explores the clash between a small county hospital in California and a refugee family from Laos over the care of Lia Lee, a Hmong child diagnosed with severe epilepsy. Lia's parents and her doctors both wanted what was best for Lia, but the lack of understanding between them led to tragedy. Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Current Interest, and the Salon Book Award, Anne Fadiman's compassionate account of this cultural impasse is literary journalism at its finest.