Fadiman’s metaphors for cross-cultural dialogue are surprisingly tense: she mentions the intersection of weather fronts, for example, which create storms, as well as international borders, which are often zones of conflict. She even invokes the possibility of becoming “caught in the cross fire” while trying to bridge the divide between American medicine and Hmong immigrants. This immediately raises the stakes of her project, suggesting that cross-cultural dialogue is an emotionally fraught and even dangerous undertaking. This ultimately proves true, as Fadiman will demonstrate that it was the failure of cross-cultural dialogue that led to the irrevocable deterioration of Lia Lee’s…