Larry's Kidney by Daniel Asa Rose

I was really excited about reading this book that I heard about on a blog a few months ago. It is subtitled "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" which basically summarizes the book for you.

Given the flippant charm of the subtitle, I expected the book to be funny, but it wasn't. I thought that Daniel's cousin Larry was a pathetic character - socially awkward in a way that presented like Asperger's. This book seemed to exploit his story rather than chronicle it. Rose also began the book with some notes on his decision to write the Chinese character's speech in the pidgin English he perceived they spoke in. While his intention may have been authenticity, the execution was tasteless.

Rose has another book about his visit to Eastern Europe with his children to trace the route his relatives took in an effort to escape the Nazis. While that subject seems interesting, I'm not likely to try it any time soon given the tone of this book.