Details
Synopsis
The author tells the story of the Lees, a family of Hmong refugees in California whose epileptic baby daughter, Lia, is taken in hand by the Western medical establishment. The Lees believe that Lia's condition is caused by spirits called dabs, who had caught her and made her fall down. Her doctors want to treat her condition with sophisticated drugs, which her parents refuse to give her. In this sad tale of cultural misunderstanding, two incompatible worlds collide, with heart-wrenching consequences. Nominated for the 1998 PEN/Martha Albrand Award for First Nonfiction.
| Size | | Length: | 339 pages | | Height: | 10.0 in | | Width: | 6.5 in | | Thickness: | 1.2 in | | Weight: | 22.4 oz |
Industry Reviews
"Ms. Fadiman tells her story with a novelist's grace, playing the role of cultural broker, comprehending those who do not comprehend each other and perceiving what might have been done or said to make the outcome different. She has read widely in the anthropological literature on the Hmong....[T]he value of Ms. Fadiman's book is its clarity about just how vast is the difference between Hmong animism and Western science. Her story is a gripping and poignant one at the center of which is an exceedingly likable and honorable family, the Lees, whose love for their afflicted daughter is wondrously unconditional but whose superstitious world view maintains an iron grip on their minds."
New York Times - Richard Bernstein (09/24/1997)
"A brilliant study in cross-cultural medicine."
Sawyer
"[Fadiman] describes with extraordinary skill the colliding worlds of Western medicine and Hmong culture...yet she remains exquisitely attuned to the interconnectedness of things."
Bhabha
"Fadiman's book is superb, informal cultural anthropology - eye-opening, readable, utterly engaging."
Washington Post Book World - Carole Horn (02/15/1998)
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