The Orphan Master's Son is an exploration of the vitality of "the American Dream" in Communist North Korea. It's about a boy who grows up in an orphanage -- read "lower than pond scum" on the social hierarchy. Through a series of chance happenings he finds himself mistaken for the rival of "the Dear Leader," Kim Jong Il.
It was a very strange book. I wouldn't recommend it to anybody who cannot handle a goodly amount of graphic sexual violence (and regular violence). It's mentioned often, in moderate detail -- nothing I, personally, had difficulty reading at any one point in time, but conceptually it's pretty disturbing psychologically to the characters and the overall point of its inclusion.
There's certainly a lot to think about with this book, regarding cultural differences, politics of communist societies, propaganda, large-scale prison culture, interrogation techniques, Casablanca, Stockholm syndrome, and the endurance of human spirit in varying circumstances. Johnson approaches all of these subjects but still manages to incorporate a lot of quirky humor without negating the impact of the situation or being insulting.
Apparently this novel is fairly well-researched, as the interview included in the back of the book mentions Johnson spent a significant amount of time in North Korea and acquired accounts of real prisoners -- either through records or directly from the source, talking with former inmates.
There were a few parts that were intentionally a little melodramatic, but overall Johnson maintains pretty solid prose that kept me engaged throughout
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