Kasher in the Rye: The True Tale of a White Boy from Oakland Who Became a Drug Addict, Criminal, Mental Patient, and Then Turned 16

"The finest, most moving and powerful memoir I have ever read."--MAYIM BIALIK

Rising young comedian Moshe Kasher is lucky to be alive. He started using drugs when he was just 12. At that point, he had already been in psychoanlysis for 8 years. By the time he was 15, he had been in and out of several mental institutions, drifting from therapy to rehab to arrest to...you get the picture. But Kasher in the Rye is not an "eye opener" to the horrors of addiction. It's a hilarious memoir about the absurdity of it all.

When he was a young boy, Kasher's mother took him on a vacation to the West Coast. Well it was more like an abduction. Only not officially. She stole them away from their father and they moved to Oakland, California. That's where the real fun begins, in the war zone of Oakland Public Schools. He was more than just out of control-his mother walked him around on a leash, which he chewed through and ran away.

Those early years read like part Augusten Burroughs, part David Sedaris, with a touch of Jim Carrol...but a lot more Jewish. In fact, Kasher later spends time in a Brooklyn Hasidic community. Then came addicition...

Brutally honest and laugh-out-loud funny, Kasher's first literary endeavor finds humor in even the most horrifying situations.

Author: Moshe Kasher
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 03/28/2012
Pages: 320
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.95lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.80w x 1.30d
ISBN: 9780446584265


Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 10/15/2011 pg. 62
Publishers Weekly 11/14/2011 pg. 41
Kirkus Reviews 03/01/2012
Booklist 03/01/2012 pg. 38

About the Author
Moshe Kasher is a stand-up comedian. He lives alone in Los Angeles. In 2009 he was named Comic of the Year by iTunes. He has been featured on Comedy Central's John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Chelsea Lately, and has performed at many international comedy festivals including the prestigious Just For Laughs festival in Montreal, South By Southwest, and the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.