Review by Booklist Review
Imagine going through Alcoholics Anonymous at 15. That's the backstory for Kasher (Kasher in the Rye, 2012). He is a comedian, and even the acknowledgments are funny. He thanks his wife, "who suffered bravely through late-night poetry slam-style readings of the latest paragraph I was proud of. She just wanted to go to bed, and I'm grateful she didn't." (She converted to Judaism for him and cohosts their podcast, The Endless Honeymoon). Occasionally, Kasher misses. When he is talking about how he would do anything for his five-year-old daughter, for example, he writes, "I would suck Jay Leno's dick to protect her." Sometimes he seems surprisingly serious. As when he wants his only child (conceived with his wife's last remaining frozen egg) to someday know that "no matter how badly things go, redemption is always possible and that from pain often comes growth." At 43, he seems wise enough to be musing about life with insightful humor, including the importance of "subculture," that is, "finding your people." This is a powerful, laugh- and smile-inducing performance.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this winning blend of humor and pathos, comedian Kasher (Kasher in the Rye) details the years he spent immersing himself in various subcultures, from Judaism to Burning Man, after his teenage stint in rehab. Kasher begins by describing his early life as a nerdy child of divorced, Deaf parents who split his time between Oakland and New York City, before briefly recounting his decision to get sober at 15 (which he covered in depth in Kasher in the Rye). From there, he writes--in the "six scenes" of the title--about finding refuge in communities as wide-ranging as Alcoholics Anonymous, 1990s San Francisco Bay Area raves, and stand-up comedy. Though the tone skews wry and self-deprecating, there's plenty of room for raw emotion, as when Kasher reflects that, in dying, his Jewish father "had given me a connection to the faith. But he never saw it." Throughout, Kasher is an erudite and charismatic tour guide, providing well-researched introductions to each of his chosen subcultures before diving into his own experiences with them. This will resonate with readers who've felt alone in an overwhelming world. Agent: Richard Abate, 3 Arts Entertainment. (Jan.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A stand-up comic offers a deep dive into the off-the-beaten-track communities that have shaped his life. Continuing in the vein of Kasher in the Rye, Kasher expands on his life story with a New Journalism approach--immersive first-person reporting (and comedic riffing) on interesting American subcultures. "I have at times been a professional raver/DJ/ecstasy dealer; a boy-king of Alcoholics Anonymous surrounded by throngs of other confused young people getting sober; a Burning Man attendee and then employee stuffing the psychedelic sausage; a conflicted but proud Jew attempting to make sense of the ultra-Hasidic world I'd been raised in; an American Sign Language interpreter who was at once both insider and outsider in the deaf community; and what I am today, a stand-up comedian." What's not in that employment history--but makes the book intriguing--is his role as a skilled researcher with a knack for making long, detailed chronological accounts of possibly dull topics exciting and funny. As the son of deaf parents, his presentation of deaf education is told in a spirit of outrage, largely directed at Alexander Graham Bell, but also including amusing details--for one, "All I know for sure is that my mother farts in public." For readers who've been nursing a dream of attending the Burning Man festival, Kasher's granular account may temper their enthusiasm. Similarly, his account of how he clawed his way up the slippery ladder of stand-up comedy should be required reading for any would-be comedians seeking the spotlight. At the end of the story, the author writes about his marriage (to fellow comic Natasha Leggero) and fatherhood, but here, he avoids the jokes: Hopefully, Kasher is saving the wonderworld of absurd subcultures that is parenting for his next book. The author's history of Judaism alone is worth the price of admission. Vivid and great fun. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
