Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(53)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Perhaps it is the fact I have worked in health care for almost 20 years, and in that time I have seen what kidney disease can do. Perhaps it is the fact I didn't find Cousin Larry very likable. I don't know what first stuck in my craw, but I did not like 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 even a little bit. This is not a light hearted romp throughout China full of cultural misunderstandings and slapstick brushed with the law. It was sad to see author Daniel Asa Rose get more and more enmeshed in the schemes of a barely likeable cousin (having a life threatening illness usually does not improve a person's personality of change their character). Within a few chapters I was weary of Cousin Larry and had a hard time enduring to the end.

Rose certainly has some amusing moments here, and his writing is zesty enough to create some entertaining interludes. There are a few touching moments, some nice local flavor, and some humorous bits of cross-cultural confusion.

BUT.
And this is one huge, massive BUT.

The central idea of Larry's Kidney is that as long as it's a family member you're saving, it doesn't matter how many other innocent people might suffer and die so that your precious family member can survive. He points out that it's illegal to do what they're doing, but as the title says, in his mind they're "skirting" the law. The tangentially mentioned truth at the heart of this book is that neither Rose nor his (unlikeably scheming) cousin Larry could give a damn if the kidney they're lusting after comes from a political prisoner. Rose even mentions the possibility and then quickly waves it off with the idea that, "What can you do? Larry is family. The prisoners aren't my concern, as they're not my family. Only their kidneys matter."

This is absolutely despicable when held up to the light of day.
So the families of a Chinese political prisoner don't matter, but your rather criminal cousin does, Mr. Rose? That is completely inhuman, especially in light of the constant Jewishness tossed around in this book. Almost every page has some Jewish reference or term. Fine. But isn't a huge part of the Jewish experience political persecution through the ages? Weren't Jews persecuted and thrown out of one country after another throughout history? And above all, did the Holocaust not teach us all the lesson that killing people simply because of their religious beliefs is inhuman?

It is in this light that I find this book, and the practise of rich Americans et al going abroad to get dubiously-sourced organs, to be deplorable. I have a Chinese friend whose family member was a Falun Gong practitioner. Her beloved son was kidnapped from his house in China more than a decade ago by the police, in front of his wife and child, and has never been heard from since. Falun Gong is not some nutty religion, any more than Judaism is. Do some research, like Rose should have done before writing this book. You will learn that the Chinese government has been jailing FG people for decades and then torturing them and even using them for medical experiments.

Just like a man named Hitler.

It is still going on, but now that we're all buddy-buddy with China, it's never mentioned in our press. Money first, people second. And of all people, for a man like Rose, who wrote a book on the Holocaust and flaunts his Jewishness constantly in this book---and who in fact had to beg a group of Jews in Beijing that he'd never met to even have a chance to find a kidney---for him to blithely ignore what his trip and his cousin's incredibly selfish mission might mean to some innocent family just like his, but not Jewish enough to have the right connections...that is unforgivable.
Period.

So yeah, there's some humor here. There's some good wordplay, and wonderful family moments, yadda yadda yadda, but at the heart of this book is the sickening fact that this whole true story might very well be based on the torture and slaughter of some innocent Chinese man, all so that Rose's ne'er-do-well cousin could live his openly-admitted sleazy lifestyle just a little longer (for instance, he laughs happily about all the young students he sleeps with as a college professor). The simple fact is that Rose and his cousin broke a very serious law and should be in Chinese jail---where very possibly their organs would be useful for some rich foreigner. If only life were that just. Instead, Rose flies around the USA making money from his "humorous memoir" about breaking international law. Ho ho ho!

Imagine if someone wrote a "funny" book about going to Nazi Germany in the 1940s and waiting for a Jew at Auschwitz to be tortured and killed so that some goy from Omaha could steal his kidney. There would be international outcry. But hey, if it's some American Jew going to China to get a kidney which is very likely from a man as innocent as any Jew in the Holocaust was, then that's just fine. How lovely. What a mitzvah.

Larry's Kidney may provide a chuckle at times, but this book is at heart about as funny as the Holocaust. Give me all the negative ratings you want, but have the guts to also write a comment justifying this, please. Because I see little difference. You either love all people, or you don't, period. Religion should never be an excuse for murder.
And a Jew of all people should understand that.

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.

"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.

I heard an interview with Daniel on KFI AM640 - Bill Handel right when the book came out (2009) - Bought it and never took the time to read it, until this Labor Day Weekend. I enjoyed every page. A serious subject but, written in a way that makes one at least think about being a donor.

- and being a Girl Scout - I got a kick out of Larry and his "addiction" to the various cookies!

This was a fun story to read and oh what a character is that Larry! The only thing I felt missing was more insight into the challenges the author faced being away from home and the challenges for his family. I know he probably did not want to make himself the focus, after all it is a story about Larry, but I thought that was one area I would have like to hear more about. Overall I would say buy and read this book, I was glad I did.

I heard Daniel Asa Rose read aloud from this work, and he had the audience laughing so hard that he had to pause repeatedly to give us time to catch our breath. It may sound odd that a memoir on such a subject would be funny. It may seem even odder that such a funny book could be so moving and thought-provoking. Yet Larry's Kidney is all of these things--a truly unique work.

I was enchanted by this narrative and the heroics of everyone involved in this dilemma that was so challenging at so many levels. Of course I do not support many of the activities the Chinese government and so many others in regards to human rights. But that does not take away from the incredible sacrifices Dan made, his family made in supporting this trip, and all the beautiful citizens of China and the ex-pats he encountered who truly risked their lives as well to help him save his cousin's life. I read the book in a couple sitting savoring every word. When I was done I signed up to be an organ donor something I had avoided doing for year. Humanity has many different meanings but Dan showed the side of humanity I hope I would have in that situation.

I liked it. There just aren't enough human interest stories available that intersect kidney disease, especially considering the prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in the United States, so I welcomed a light-hearted romp through some very serious topics. However, the fact is that many Americans do resort to transplant tourism in an effort to save their own lives, so we do need to hear about these stories rather than stick our head in the sand.

You can certainly question Larry Feldman's (the author's semi-estranged cousin) ethics, but the author's ethics are more clearly stated at the back of the book under the heading of "Nice Clear Morals". To paraphrase, moral #1 is don't do what Larry did, avoid transplant tourism, and moral #2 is sign up as an organ donor (via the driver's license designation - go to Donate Life for more info). I can't argue with either of these morals, although I think it might have been good to add some of the statistics that clearly show that, on average, transplants from transplant tourism result in poorer outcomes versus transplants done in the United States. For instance, in China incidence of tuberculosis and hepatitis are much higher than in the United States and recipients have been documented to contract them from the donor through transplantation.

While I did have several chuckles, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's "side-splittingly funny" is a bit of a stretch. However, Rose does flesh out these colorful characters quite well. Their odd quirkiness kept me reading. The foreignness of China was palpable and made me think of the 80's movie After Hours with Griffin Dunn. Daniel Asa Rose is a good writer.

I was left feeling a bit sad that Larry felt more comfortable going to China than seeking a living donor here in the United States, but his misconception is the same misconception as many others; that they need to ask someone to donate their kidney. What is needed is that people with ESRD get their story out. Often people will step forward on their own to donate if they are aware of others in need. I would have preferred had Dan gotten Larry's story out prior to their trip to China.

I fell in LOVE with Larry's Kidney before even finishing the first page of the book. Love the wit and dry sense of humor of the author--felt like I was right there with Dan and Larry trekking through China on the search for a kidney. This book made me laugh out loud, cry out loud, and I couldn't put it down. Will def be a book I read over and over again.