“The
most important thing when starting out with essay writing is to find a voice
with which you're comfortable. You need to find a persona that is very much
like you, but slightly caricatured.” – Anne Fadiman
Born on this date in 1953, Fadiman
was a founding editor of the Library of Congress magazine Civilization
and has had a great career as a writer, editor and teacher of essays. But it was her award-winning book The
Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down that brought her the most acclaim (and
many awards). Researched in a small county hospital in California, it
examines a Hmong immigrant family and their cultural, linguistic, and medical
struggles in seeking treatment for their epileptic child. ![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj6mxj-K6rXHn1fo1Wk0ZrmR65i70qv0AZliBLBZ2ZWy0VD0bHOJu9GfxCErySxUvgEIRB7fqUsP7i_p53hRijx0mQpWOsquhhOKF-4SZuvd1kjYRtBMILtQRmMtWU0VX-S0UXVTeWWEOV/s400/images_007.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj6mxj-K6rXHn1fo1Wk0ZrmR65i70qv0AZliBLBZ2ZWy0VD0bHOJu9GfxCErySxUvgEIRB7fqUsP7i_p53hRijx0mQpWOsquhhOKF-4SZuvd1kjYRtBMILtQRmMtWU0VX-S0UXVTeWWEOV/s400/images_007.jpg)
An intense reader as well as writer,
she noted that she is grateful for electronics and how they have
improved the lives of writers and readers alike. But while she reads e-books, she prefers a text copy in her hands.
“There is something about holding a
book - the smell and the world of association,” she said. “Even when e-books
are perfected, as they surely will be, I think it will be like being in bed
with a very well-made robot rather than a warm, soft, human being whom you
love.”
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