The Man With Five Kidneys ...

The headline is my clever way of introducing one of the better New Yorker stories I've read in a while.

(That's more an indictment of my inability to keep up with their output than a crack at their editorial chops.)

Larissa MacFarquhar has an excellent piece on the moral and emotional issues surrounding kidney transplants. With the introduction of a new site that allows donors to choose their recipients based on recipient profiles, a new dynamic is emerging -- and it's often tense and angst-ridden.

That aside, there are plenty of interesting tidbits that are the hallmark of a great New Yorker story.

During a kidney transplant, it's not required that a nonfunctioning kidney be removed. As a result, a person who's had multiple kidney transplants may have more than three kidneys. That is, assuming they were lucky enough to find multiple kidneys.

Kidneys are flushed free of blood prior to transport to their new donor. The blood inside would cause them to rapidly deteriorate. The scene in the story describing a transplant operation is fascinating -- the moment the kidney is attached to the donor's artery is incredible.

There's more, including a brief -- but illuminating and heartbreaking -- description of dialysis, but I'll leave the other gems unearthed so you'll read the story.