One thing is crystal clear when you've read this book. Aaron Cohen is a strange and troubled man. However, that should not take away from either his commitment to his causes or the primordial importance of fighting Trafficking in Persons (TIP).

This book is more a character study of Cohen himself than an exposé on TIP. As we follow him through sex, drugs, and rock and roll, we do get a very personal version of tr

afficking as he experienced it, and if this is all you ever learn about trafficking, you will come 

away 

convinced that it's an evil we need to tackle. However, as Cohen says himself, his methods are unorthodox, and focus totally on the "one starfish at a time" theory of making the world a better place.

His work is important, and I admire him for saving even one person, but I prefer the work of those who take a more holistic alproach, and seek to cut out the roots, rather than cut at the results, of TIP.

It's a good read, probably carried along mostly by the writing skills of Christine Buckley, a writer whom I've had a chance to meet in Paris, and who inspires me with her style and energy. Cohen's part seems more depressed, and name-dropping, and strangely focused on esoteric Jewish teachings that are, for me, a distraction from reality.

I wish Cohen the best of luck with his efforts to free slaves, and hope that his life has come together since publishing the book. Read it, but don't rely on it as a sole source of information on TIP.