The book is written in a unique style, with every other chapter returning to Lia's story and the chapters in-between discussing broader themes of Hmong culture, customs, and history; American involvement in and responsibility for the war in Laos; and the many problems of immigration, especially assimilation and discrimination.
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Anne Fadiman wrote that the Lia's parents did not give her medication as it was prescribed because they believed that Lia Lee's state showed a sense of spiritual giftedness, and they did not want to take that away.
Fall Out Boy | The Fall (band) | The Fall | Holy Spirit | Spirit of St. Louis | The Fall of the House of Usher | Spirit | Smells Like Teen Spirit | Fall River, Massachusetts | The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire | The Fall Guy | Fall River | Fall of Saigon | spirit | Fall of Constantinople | Spirit of the West | Independent Spirit Awards | The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better | Spirit (band) | Shadows Fall | Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny | Resistance: Fall of Man | Leo Fall | Delta Spirit | After the Fall | Things Fall Apart | The Fall of Troy | The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin | Spirit Warrior | Spirit of Tasmania |
The folktale explains that cows and rats ate the book, so, in the words of Anne Fadiman, author of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, "no text was equal to the task of representing a culture as rich as that of the Hmong."