| View Larger Image | 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 | Hardcoverby Daniel Asa Rose (Author)
| List Price: | $25.99 | | Price: | $18.71 | | You Save: | $7.28 (28%) | | | Available: | Usually ships in 24 hours |
| | Binding: | Hardcover | | Publisher: | William Morrow | | Edition: | 1st Edition | | Page Count: | 320 Pages | | Publication Date: | May 01, 2009 | | Sales Rank: | 417,718th |
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FEATURES | - ISBN13: 9780061708701
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
FROM THE FORWARD: "Elegantly written and deeply moving, it passes the laugh-out-loud test with flying colors. A classic contribution to the annals of cross-cultural comedy." FROM THE MILWAUKEE JOURNAL-SENTINEL: "Like nothing else you've read, pitch-perfect dialogue, hilarious and heartbreaking." FROM THE MIAMI HERALD: "Quirky, charming, Rose is a gifted writer and good company. The master of dialogue." FROM THE BIRMINGHAM NEWS: "With its humor, sensitivity and shocking twist at the end, `Larry's Kidney' is a literary trip worth taking. Delightful." FROM THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: "'Larry's Kidney' delivers." FROM THE MINNEAPOLIS STAR-TRIBUNE: "Great, madcap fun. You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll be sorry when the adventure is over. And you won't forget these two, or those funny-talk China people." FROM THE RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH: "An immensely entertaining, effervescent book crammed with colorful characters and zippy dialogue." FROM HEALTH & MEDICINE WEEK/BIOTECH WEEK: "Just as important as the book's deeply moving and enormously comical entertainment value are the deep insights into the world of organ transplants. Required reading for the medical community as well as the general public." FROM THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL: "Witty, wild, and wacky." FROM THE SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS NEWS: "Side-splitting." FROM THE COMMERCIAL DISPATCH, COLUMBUS, MISSISSIPPI: "Uproarious and poignant, but also a simple tribute to family love. A romp of a book, surprisingly moving." FROM THE NEW BEDFORD STANDARD TIMES: "Easily one of the funniest non-fiction books I've read in years. Rose's tone reminds me of David Sedaris and his story reads like an episode of `Curb Your Enthusiasm.'" FROM HARTFORD COURANT: "Hilarious and scary and also a fascinating exploration of China, medical ethics and family ties." FROM SHELF AWARENESS: "Sometimes slapstick, sometimes caustic, Larry's Kidney is also sweet and thoughtful as Daniel finds himself improbably falling in love with China." FROM GAIL COOKE, TOP TEN AMAZON REVIEWER: "Outrageous, outrageously funny, and touching. A unique odyssey!" FROM GRADY HARP, TOP TEN AMAZON REVIEWER: "Daniel Asa Rose has a winner on his hands with `LARRY'S KIDNEY'. He has the skill and the comic timing to pull off an unlikely caper story with lightness, hearty laughter, tenderness, and wisdom, creating a book that most likely will go directly to film. It is a fast summer read that is brimming over with some of the funniest conversations between the characters while keeping an eye focused on the very fast paced story that borders on miraculous." FROM THE BOOK CHICK: "I really loved this story, on the edge of my seat. Simply too good to miss!" FROM DUFFBERT`S RANDOM MUSINGS: "Well worth the read, both for entertainment and for food for thought." FROM AVON ROMANCE BLOG: "Okay, it's not women's fiction, but it's just wacky enough that mom might just love it for mother's day. LARRY'S KIDNEY is the funniest yet most heartwarming book of the year. What better gift for mom?" FROM VILLISCA READS: "Illustrates what is important about life. A must read." FROM TCPL BOOK TALK: "This is one of those rare books that make you laugh, make you think, and maybe even teach you a thing or two. It made me fall in love with China's people and appreciate my own family." FRIOM BOOKLOONS REVIEWS: "The seriousness of the quest is offset by Rose's sense of humor. Well worth the read." FROM A J JACOBS, AUTHOR OF THE YEAR OF LIVING BIBLICALLY: "You've never read a book like this. And if you have, please tell me what bookstore you go to, because I want to buy any other books that weave love, China, family, and internal organs into an amazing and touching tale. For everyone else, it's probably easier to just buy Daniel Asa Rose's book." FROM RICH COHEN: AUTHOR OF SWEET AND LOW: "In this hilarious, moving book, Daniel Asa Rose and his cousin Larry set out like Sancho Panza and Don Quixote in search of a mail order bride and human organs, running into classic Quixotic misadventure along the way. In short, that very rare thing--a wonderful story told by a wonderful writer." FROM BONNIE FRIEDMAN, AUTHOR OF WRITING PAST DARK: "This is one of those beautifully written, compulsively readable books that actually feels life-changing. Scene after scene has surprising and sharply memorable characters, and a plot with real-life story twists that are shocking and yet, upon consideration, make perfect sense. By the hauntingly beautiful end, all the scenes added up to a vision of the people of this distant place, and of life itself, that was beyond the joyful adventure of this book. I was left with a vision of life frankly that seemed masterful in scope." |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 87 reviews)
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nope by imsocrazy (vass)  2 Stars
September 26, 2009
I tried to read this book twice, but just couldn't get into it. I think that the story is probably a good one, especially since it's true, and it seems that the book is written with a very humorous twist, but it was sort of hard to follow. I ended up giving it to a young man I met that has a kidney transplant, so all was not lost!
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Black Market kidney by Margaret Ramlow  5 Stars
September 01, 2009
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.
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Worthy read by B. Rocha (Sacramento CA) 5 Stars
August 26, 2009
I came across this book by accident. The title caught my eye. You will not be able to put this book down. It is humorous, heart warming and, culturally educational. I enjoyed every minute of it. I even e-mailed the author to tell him so and he e-mailed me right back. Unheard of.
Bobbie
Sacramento, CA
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Got on my nerves by Mary G. Longorio (Eagle Mountain, UT)  3 Stars
August 21, 2009
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.
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Memorable memoir by A reader (New York) 5 Stars
August 04, 2009
Larry's Kidney tells the engrossing story of how the author (Daniel Asa Rose) went to China with his cousin (Larry Feldman) in search of a much-needed new kidney. While Larry looms large in the narrative--he is by turns funny, crazy, sweet, cruel, tough, depressed, generous, selfish--the quiet hero is Rose who with his keen eye and top-notch prose makes the tale come alive. I'm so glad that I spent a few hours with this author and intend to read his earlier work, Hiding Places.
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