Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction.
Brilliantly reported and beautifully crafted, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down explores the clash between the Merced Community Medical Center 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.
Superb, informal cultural anthropology — eye-opening, readable, utterly engaging. —The Washington Post Book World