The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, by Anne Fadiman

What an amazing piece of non-fiction. I don't read a ton of non-fiction, and I am not ashamed to admit why: most of it is very boring. Fadiman knows how to tell a story, even if it's not made up. She alternated between stories of the family of the sick child, the history of the Hmong people, and the medical and political communities involved. She doesn't assign blame so much as point out where things might have made a difference, and her cultural sensitivity extends to both the Hmong family and the medical community. A wonderful book.