The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down

By Anne Fadiman, published 1997

This is a non-fiction book about the conflict between the American medical institution and the recently-immigrated family of a young epileptic Hmong girl, Lia Lee. Fadiman does an excellent job telling each side of the story, so that the reader bounces from feeling that the whole messy situation is the Lee's fault for rejecting American medicine, to feeling it's the ignorant American doctors' faults for brushing off the wisdom of the family's culture. As the book progresses, the reader comes to realize it's much more complicated than assigning blame, and how the collision of two cultures can be so much more complex than anyone could guess. Along the way, the history of the Hmong is laid out, especially their role in the Vietnam War. The reader comes out of the story with a much deeper understanding of the Hmong people in particular and how America can do a better job in interacting with refugees in general.

The Worst Hard Time

I'm not sure if I've mentioned before that a friend and I started a book group where we work. Our book for July was The Worst Hard Time, by Timothy Egan. I think I've mentioned before that I have a hard time read non-fiction; well, in this case I had no problem at all. In fact, I read this quite fast. Egan took the time to introduce many characters and set up a situation in a well-described setting, all components of my favorite kinds of fiction. He really built up a sense of dread and foreboding, as the time of the great dust storms of the 1930's arrived. It's really a disaster story. I think those who enjoyed reading about the Titanic or Into Thin Air (about a horrible Mount Everest expedition) would appreciate this as well. We watch as the characters we got to know so well, and who seemed to be thriving in the American mid-west, lose everything, and still struggle to hang on and resist leaving their adopted land. Before reading this I really had no idea of the struggle these people endured. In fact, I hadn't even heard of these great dust storms either. It's really quite amazing. Crops were buried under dust, farm animals died from lungs and stomachs getting filled with dust, families huddled in their homes, hanging wet sheets around all the doors and windows to try to keep the dust out... for nearly ten years. Incredible.

Timothy Egan bases his narrative on interviews he had with survivors from the storms or from the writings of those who lived in it. Filled with historical details, yet it retains the feel of a story rather than a history book. Highly recommended.

Kitchen Confidential

I'm reading Kitchen Confidential right now; it's a memoir that serves simultaneously as a kind of expose on the restaurant industry. It's pretty funny and quite explicit. All sorts of sex, drugs, and
violence that one might expect from a hip-hop crew rather than from a bunch of cooks at a three star restaurant.

I've started feeling a little suspicious about my restaurant food since I've been reading this. The author says to never eat fish on Mondays, due to the fish being a little old by then, and the cook is doing his darnedist to just get it out of the kitchen ... so when I suddenly realized I was eating the all-you-can-eat fish and chips special at the local bar and grill on Monday night, I was almost put out of my appetite. But then, I realized, fish and chips are pretty disgusting to begin with, and I love them. So who cares if its a little old or whatever. I eat it for the grease! The ketchup! Then I thought of something else the author said, don't be afraid of your food. Just eat what you want. Cheers!