The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down
by Anne Fadiman · first published 1997
80% recommend20% neutral
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-run "Quiet War" in Laos. Parents and doctors both wanted the best for Lia, but their ideas about the causes of her illness and its treatment could hardly have been more different. The Hmong see illness and healing as spiritual matters linked to virtually everything in the universe, wh
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
Related books
2011–2026The Fifth Head Of Cerberus
Gene Wolfe
Recommended by 21 · mentioned by 2621 recommend · 26 mention21 recommend · 2621 recommend
2010–2026Cloud Atlas
David Mitchell
Recommended by 27 · mentioned by 4727 recommend · 47 mention27 recommend · 4727 recommend
2011–2026Roadside Picnic
Arkadii Strugatskii, Boris Strugatskii, Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
Recommended by 76 · mentioned by 12976 recommend · 129 mention76 recommend · 12976 recommend
2007–2026Blood Meridian
Cormac McCarthy
Recommended by 105 · mentioned by 192105 recommend · 192 mention105 recommend · 192105 recommend
2008–2026The Road to Serfdom
Friedrich A. von Hayek
Recommended by 59 · mentioned by 12959 recommend · 129 mention59 recommend · 12959 recommend
2007–2026The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
Thomas S. Kuhn, Dennis Holland
Recommended by 96 · mentioned by 21596 recommend · 215 mention96 recommend · 21596 recommend
2007–2026The Wealth of Nations
Adam Smith
Recommended by 92 · mentioned by 40592 recommend · 405 mention92 recommend · 40592 recommend
…ice cream sales causes increased robberies” to me. Your comment about the Somali immigrants and the Minnesota healthcare system reminds me of a really fantastic book I’d long since forgotten called The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spirit_Catches_You_and_Y...
on “Much of the rise in autism is likely a statistical mirage” ↗I finally read The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down[1], which has been on my list for years. Cultural/anthropological journalism tends to fall into a handful of traps (fawning over "exotic" cultures, or dismissing them as backwards), and this is one of…
on “Ask HN: What is the best thing you read in 2022?” ↗just finished The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, by Anne Fadiman. It's a really well-written story looking at the collision of the American Medical System and Hmong culture, specifically one Hmong family who has a young child with epilepsy. I like…
on “Ask HN: What are you reading?” ↗"The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down", non-fiction, about the cultural clash of modern American medicine and Hmong immigrants. The author demonstrates an amazing amount of empathy for both sides.
on “Ask HN: What are the best unknown books you have read?” ↗It's an anthropological book; you, as a reader, are expected to understand that the framing is subjective. Compare The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down[1]: tacking "self-proclaimed" on the front doesn't improve any understanding of the contents, and would only make the author come across as smarmy. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spirit_Catches_You_and_You...
on “Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber (2018)” ↗…and patients, etc. Given the complicated and often counterproductive beliefs about disease control in the US today, it feels like a pretty important field. A popular science title from this area is The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, about the relationship between a Hmong family with an epileptic child and their doctors. I think it's often assigned reading for students in the medical professions.
on “As Their Numbers Grow, Covid-19 “Long Haulers” Stump Experts” ↗