ACHNE's Novel Conversations

Book 3: The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down

Join Novel Conversations at the 2022 Annual Institute as we discuss The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down.

Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down explores the clash between a small county hospital 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. Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Current Interest, and the Salon Book Award, Anne Fadiman's compassionate account of this cultural impasse is literary journalism at its finest.

Join us on Friday, June 10, during the "Meet, Greet, and Eat" social event at the 2022 Annual Insitute in Old Town Alexandria, VA.