In this funny and inventive novel, the Lums are a death-stalked Chinese-American family living in Orange County, California. Ever since Grandpa Melvin was inspired to join the U.S. Army after watching a Popeye movie, Lum after Lum has been doomed to an untimely demise, be it by tainted cheeseburger or speeding ice-cream truck. Now young Louis must move back home with his father, Sonny, to prevent him from enacting the revenge he promises, while Louis also searches for a long-lost uncle in Hong Kong.