A review by errski
The Foundling: The True Story of a Kidnapping, a Family Secret, and My Search for the Real Me by Paul Joseph Fronczak, Alex Tresniowski

3.0

I listened to the audiobook. I thought the story was interesting, and kept my attention, but I couldn't get over my thoughts that his story could have been told better. The author jumps from point to point in his story, and often repeats what he has said in the past multiple times. I'm not sure if he has fully worked through his feelings, which would have been more interesting to read. It seems like he is still detached from the story itself, we get no closure about a lot of the case, and this makes the story become more a statement of fact and how DNA analysis and family tree building with these DNA websites works. Even a lot of the science, though, is briefly glossed over.

I'm not sure that the author really is even able to properly thank the team that worked on his case for him, I feel like at the end of all this, this experience didn't change anything about him personally, it could be how the story reads, but I felt frustrated throughout the story.

Spoiler

I'd really like to know if they ever found out what happened to "the real" Paul Fronczak, and what happened to Jill. Maybe I'll do some research into this. I also really wish that he had gone to the ocean, or had waited until he let the story change him a little more before retelling the facts. If the author is trying to say that the "real me" is only found through knowing who your family is, I'm not sure that I can buy into that, but that's just my opinion.

The audiobook was pretty good, entertaining to listen to on my commutes to and from work and while on a recent road trip (short road trip) to visit friends. I'm not sure how the book would read otherwise though.