The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman

Written By: Anne Fadiman Genre: Nonfiction, Memoir, History Synopsis: Lia Lee was born in 1982 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, over-medication, and culture clash: "What the doctors viewed as clinical efficiency the Hmong viewed as frosty arrogance." The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down 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. Format: Hardcover, 339 Pages Awards: Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Current Interest (1997), National Book Critics Circle Award for General Nonfiction (1997) Goodreads Rating: 4.20 *This book is pre-loved, but has been carefully looked through to ensure it is not missing any pages and is in good condition. All visible flaws have been documented in the product photos.