The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down

Anne Fadiman's book chronicles the true story of a young Hmong girl who is considered to have a spiritual gift that is, in western culture, identified as epilepsy. The book documents the clash between the family's desire to honor their daughter's gift and the Americans' desires to treat the epilepsy.

Content Areas:

General

Categories:

Cultural Diversity

Media Type:

Book

Citation:

Fadiman, A. (1998). The spirit catches you and you fall down: A Hmong child, her American doctors, and the collision of two cultures. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Submitted by:

Calli Lewis Chiu

clewischiu@fullerton.edu