Of late, I have been reading a good deal of non-fiction books. The latest three being The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman; The Lost City of Z by David Gann and Riches Among the Ruins by Robert P. Smith.
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures chronicles the story of a Hmong family living in Merced, California, and their experience in the California medical system. The sad story of their little and her battle with severe epilepsy only takes up a small portion of the book, and the rest is filled with historical and cultural context that makes the book all the more meaningful. Although Fadiman, a journalist, is sometimes sporadic in her writing, the book reads well, especially for non-fiction.
I think the best aspect of this book was the way in which Fadiman presents both Western and Eastern medicine as viable treatments. There are times in the book when you want to ring the necks of the noncompliant family, and there are other times when you want to punch the doctors in their faces. There is most definitely miscommunication between the two sides, and fleeting moments of understanding; but by the end, the reader does not finish the book with any feeling of resolution. The child's parents refuse to give correct dosages of medicine, and the doctors do not adjust the medicine so that compliance would be easier to fulfill. And when the government takes the little girl away... chaos ensues. I learned so much from this book about the Hmong, and got a new perspective on Western medicine.
Riches Among the Ruins: Avdentures in the Dark Corners of the Global Economy also taught me a lot--about sovereign debt trading. This business memoir dolls out lessons--on business, psychology and traveling in some of the most scathy places.The author patiently explains how sovereign debt trade works the world around, and also sheds some light onto how currency flows across borders, trade claims are reclaimed, deficits are created and most importantly, how to make a spread on these inevitable actions. Some of my favorite lessons from Riches Among the Ruins include: 'fake it til you make it,' and 'think Yiddish, dress British.'
Even though this is non-fiction ("every word is true!" insists the author), the book reads much like a spy novel, with almost half the characters under pseudonyms--cambistos, gold-diggers, corrupt businessmen, and the like. The website provides some additional context, including up-to-date commentary on current events, such as Venezuela and Ecuador, and Iraq (vis-a-vis debt obligations).
The Lost City of Z is one I'm still working on, so I'll have to come back to it.
