Summary of Anne Fadiman's The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down
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Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.
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#1
The Hmong, a hilltribe people, believed that if a couple failed to produce children, they could call in a shaman who would enter a trance and summon a posse of helpful familiars. The shaman would ride a winged horse between the earth and the sky, and negotiate with the spirits for the patients’ health.
#2
When a Hmong woman became pregnant, she would pay close attention to her food cravings. If she craved ginger, and did not eat it, her child would be born with an extra finger or toe. If she craved chicken flesh, and did not eat it, her child would have a blemish near its ear.
#3
The Lees’ 13th child, Mai, was born in a refugee camp in Thailand. Their 14th child, Lia, was born in the Merced Community Medical Center in California. The Lees’ placenta was incinerated, and some Hmong women have asked the doctors at MCMC if they could take their babies’ placentas home.
#4
When Lia was born, at 7:09 p. m. on July 19, 1982, Foua was lying on her back on a steel table, her body covered with sterile drapes, her genital area painted with a brown Betadine solution, with a highwattage lamp trained on her perineum. No family members were in the room.
