Larry's Kidney: Being the True Story of How I Found Myself in China with My Black Sheep Cousin and His Mail-Order Bride, Skirting the Law to Get Him a Transplant--and Save His Life (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

From The Washington Post

From The Washington Post's Book World/washingtonpost.com Reviewed by Andrew Ervin "Larry's Kidney," a stranger-than-fiction memoir by Daniel Asa Rose, serves as an enjoyable testament to the lengths to which we sometimes go to help family, even when doing so is a terrible, terrible idea. The absurdly long subtitle -- "Being the Story of How I Found Myself in China with My Black Sheep Cousin and His Mail-Order Bride, Skirting the Law to Get Him a Transplant -- and Save His Life" -- should come with a spoiler alert. It's not giving too much away to reveal that the plot involves a guy named Larry, who somehow persuaded his long-lost cousin, Daniel Rose, editor of the literary magazine the Reading Room, to leave his wife and kids behind and accompany him to China. There Larry hoped to get an illegal kidney transplant and meet his bride-to-be. The ensuing adventure is the stuff of slapstick comedy, as Rose and Larry navigate the Chinese black market, the dodgy medical establishment and their own relationship. It's curious and occasionally tense, especially when after all that trouble Larry threatens to call off the operation if it's going to be too expensive. Though their odyssey was a success in the end, Rose makes the moral of the story clear: "Don't try to go to China for a kidney. We got the last one."
Copyright 2009, The Washington Post. All Rights Reserved.

Review

"A satisfying, hysterical page-turner that will captivate fans of travel writing and family narratives, with special interest for anyone who's helped a love one through serious illness." --Publishers Weekly (* Starred review)

"A satisfying, hysterical page-turner that will captivate fans of travel writing and family narratives, with special interest for anyone who's helped a loved one through serious illness." (*starred review*) --Publishers Weekly

"I really loved this story, on the edge of my seat. Simply too good to miss!" --The Book Chick

"Illustrates what is important about life. A must read." --Villisca Reads

"Side-splitting." --The San Antonio Express News

"'LARRY'S KIDNEY' delivers." --New York Daily News

"Skillful, funny, fascinating." --New York Observer

SHELF AWARENESS

The subtitle seems to say it all: Being the True Story of How I Found Myself in China with My Black Sheep Cousin and His Mail-Order Bride, Skirting the Law to Get Him a Transplant--and Save His Life. What it doesn't say is how funny and warm and outrageous Larry's Kidney is. The escapade begins when Daniel Rose's long-lost cousin calls after several decades of silence to ask if he'll go on a jaunt to China for Larry's kidney transplant and possible marriage (Larry is always ready to save money by combining two tasks). Why Daniel? He's the only person left who would answer Larry's phone call; Larry takes "black sheep" to a new level:

"Mad? You mean, for ratting me out to the FBI that time, telling them I'd inflated my income on a condo mortgage application, which you specifically advised me to do because you needed the commission?"

"I was upset, Dan. I'm not proud of it."

And that's mild compared to the fatwa Larry issued against Cousin Burton.

Now Larry, scammer, operator, finagler par excellence, needs help, because he can't wait years for a transplant in the U.S. However, there's one small glitch to getting a transplant in China: it's illegal for a Westerner. But loopholes are Larry's bread and butter, so he's confident his plan will work.

Dan heads to Beijing, soon discovering that any success they will have depends on guanxi--connections, personal relationships under the radar. Larry, meanwhile, looking like death chewing on a cracker, is ensconced in a hotel armed against the cuisine with a suitcase full of Girl Scout cookies, and armed against the dirt with a cleaning woman, who turns out to be Mary, his mail-order fiancée. As Larry spins his life story and his current plans, Daniel is frazzled from jet-lag and dazzled by Larry's spiel: "I'm held captive by a snake charmer . . . There's a certain relief in surrendering to such masterful manipulation . . . God help me. I'm joining the cult of Larry."

And so the search is on for the clandestine kidney. Dan starts by e-mailing anyone he can think of who might have even a tenuous lead, while Larry undergoes dialysis and subsists on cookies and Coke. Finally at an expat Sabbath service, Chinese guanxi and Jewish guanxi intersect in the Australian owner of a surgical instrument company, and Dr. X is found in an industrial city of little charm that is also a center for exceptional hospitals. Aiding and abetting the trio is the lovely Jade, a waitress who volunteers to help them as they move "their little opera" to Shi. Shi has breathtaking (literally) pollution--"Beijing's vaporized Frappuccino was impressive, but this is something to stand in awe of . . . An ivory-gray effluvium stops your vision after two blocks out or five stories up." This will be home for weeks.

Rose's writing is by turns hyperbolic and hallucinatory as he deals with the outlandish situation and his wacky cousin. Sometimes slapstick, sometimes caustic, Larry's Kidney is also sweet and thoughtful as Daniel finds himself improbably falling in love with China.--Marilyn Dahl, shelfawareness.com Shelf Talker: A hilarious story about two cousins in China, one searching for a kidney and true love, the other aiding and abetting. --shelfawareness.com (marilyn dahl) may 8, 2009

When his estranged cousin Larry calls to say he's dying of kidney disease, author Rose doesn't know what to think; grimly determined, Larry makes Rose an unlikely recruit in his quest for an illegal kidney transplant in China. Along the way to finding a mail-order bride, falling in love with an alien country and saving Larry's life, the duo experience extreme culture shock, flirt with espionage and discover unimaginable qualities in each other. Rose's rhythms and comic timing, particularly in dialog with his cousin, will keep readers laughing throughout, even when they're crying. While they dance around the morality of their errand, the crux of the travelogue is two old friends learning to reconcile for a life-saving adventure in a foreign world. A satisfying, hysterical page-turner, this will captivate fans of travel writing and family narratives, with special interest for anyone who's helped a love one through serious illness. (starred review) --Publishers Weekly, April 13, 2009 (starred review)

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 1 edition (May 12, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061708704
• ISBN-13: 978-0061708701
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (87 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #518,276 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Delightful Armchair Adventure, April 26, 2009

By	Faith Junaid - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I was hooked with the first line, 'Huwwo?' Larry's Kidney, by Daniel Asa Rose, is indeed an 'adventure of a lifetime (really) -- a madcap odyssey of the heart (and kidney) in the most exotic country on earth,' as the back cover proclaims.

Larry is something else. Rose shows him as funny, exasperating, morose, kind hearted, unyielding, dictatorial, and expansive by turns, a moody man who is nonetheless charming and hard not to like. I believe that Rose shows Larry as he sees him, but he makes it clear in the book that he has a vivid imagination, so I'm not entirely sure Larry is exactly the man we're shown. Still, I think Larry would be someone interesting to meet, though I'd make sure not to cross him.

I loved the way Rose shows the people of China, very much as I might expect to see them myself -- quite confusing at first, then not as a people (plural), but as individual people, who still might be confusing due to language and cultural differences, yet people with whom it's possible to interact. I felt I was there with them as I read. (The fact that I was playing Chinese pop music as I read probably helped this a little.) And, though I don't go looking for it intentionally in what I read, I'm always delighted to see an example of my world vision* in reality, in the world today. For all his and Larry's cavalier naivety, before he returned home he saw (was made to see) some of the harsher realities and he still chose to remember the kindnesses bestowed upon him and Larry, to believe goodness was indeed goodness. Nobody ends up being a bad guy here. It's just that everyone sees things differently.

Rose's style reads/sounds as if he's there telling the story in person. I could hear his voice, so much so that when I later visited his website and heard him speak, I 'recognized' it. It was exactly as I expected. I get a distinct picture in my head of Larry, but somehow, it didn't quite match the photo on the back cover. I think that's because a photo is still and we need to see Larry animated. I do take issue with Rose's description of Mary. Did he say she was fat?** I can't remember exactly, but he certainly gave the impression that she is. However, the pictures on his website show that she definitely is not fat. (I should be so 'fat!') But, then, there is the Author's Note stating that he had to change some facts of the story to protect those who helped him and Larry, so maybe there is a bit of embellishment here and there to make every part an interesting story. Who knows? Who cares? If he says it's true, I believe the basic facts are true. It's just that he's not a 'damn, dim bulb,' writing a dull diary of facts. He wrote a story we want to keep reading.

*I see a world where all people accept each other as friends and neighbors and celebrate each person's uniqueness as a vital part of everyone's life, like threads in a tapestry. ~F. Shafer Junaid

** 'a giant cleaning lady' 'a larger figure than I expected' (p. 23 of my ARC)

PS: Since Clint Eastwood is too old for the role, I nominate Billy Bob Thornton to play Larry.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Kidney quest, May 14, 2009

By	Quoad Toad (Chicago) - See all my reviews

(What's this?)

"Larry's Kidney" tells the story of two cousins on the quest for a kidney. Family outcast, Larry, ropes his cousin, Dan, into helping him search for a kidney in China.

"Larry's Kidney" is certainly unique. The author was a frequent visitor to China in the 1980's and gives readers a good sense of how China has changed over 25 years. Readers also learn about Chinese politics and culture.

I had a difficult time empathizing with Larry and Dan. They came off as one dimensional and I couldn't find a way to relate to them on an emotional level. I found their journey entertaining and interesting, but on an emotional level, this book came off as cool.

Overall, "Larry's Kidney" is enjoyable, but lacks the emotional depth I would have expected from a book recounting a life saving journey.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Black Market kidney, August 31, 2009

By	Margaret Ramlow - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I heard the author of this book interviewed on NPR and of course had to get it and read it even though I have stacks of books ahead of it. -many that I have had to rush out and get in a similar fashion. But this is a topic that has long been of interest to me, having worked in ICUs and experienced several sides of the transplant dilemma.

Daniel's cousin Larry was desperate for a kidney. Not one was in sight, for there were 74,000 ahead of him in the US.
I heard the author of this book interviewed on NPR and of course had to get it and read it even though I have stacks of books ahead of it. -many that I have had to rush out and get in a similar fashion. But this is a topic that has long been of interest to me, having worked in ICUs and experienced several sides of the transplant dilemma.

Daniel's cousin Larry was desperate for a kidney. Not one was in sight, for there were 74,000 ahead of him in the US.

So the two set out to search for a friendly kidney in China, the controversial hot bed of transplants. Why so many in China? Thousands of prisoners are executed each year, some true murders but some maybe not. We don't know. These prisoners offer a near endless supply of kidneys, hearts, livers, lungs and other body parts. Although it is illegal to sell kidneys to westerners, Larry and Dan were determined to find a kidney.

It is written with a great deal of humor -black comedy- and you will laugh and cry at their
journey through the black market of "Transplant Tourism". It also presents a different culture from the US where the selling of organs is considered taboo. This in spite of long waiting lists

Many medical ethicists and transplant Dr's are willing to bring up the discussion of how to procure more organs. Spain has organ donation by default. I.e. unless one specifies otherwise, organs are automatically harvested in the deceased when possible. Even this doesn't
result in sufficient organs to meet the needs. Consequently there is a huge black market in Middle east and Asian countries that prey on the poor to sell their organs to the rich. Until recently, South Africa would transport poor people from South America to provide kidneys to wealthy Americans. Truly "Global" trade.

Something more to think about. And a good read.