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

I first came upon this book while looking into information on Moshe Kasher, after seeing some of his standup work... I found him, as a person, to be quite intriguing and that his humor could rub you in all the right and wrong ways...As a woman who grew up in a childhood filled with addicts and recovery, myself, it's quite incredible to read this story in the perspective of a child involved in the throes of so many struggles... And finally coming to terms with the person he is.Perhaps I'm just a mush, but this book brought me to tears on multiple occasions as well as cause me to laugh hysterically, aloud, in awkward situations. I would honestly recommend this book to anyone with the patience and understanding to fully take in the pain and trials that this young boy goes through during his adolescence.Beautifully written, heart-wrenching, hilarious and brutally honest, I swear you will not be able to put this book down easily.Thank you Moshe, for letting the lost know that they can find themselves, and perhaps later laugh at the absurdity how lost they may have been. <3

I've always liked reading books about alcoholism and addiction. This is well-written and emotionally affecting.

Moshe’s memoir about growing up in Oakland to deaf Jewish parents is a great story in itself but his honest portrayal of himself as an addict and tortured teenager is the most intriguing part of his story. He started using at 12. He pulls you in to his desperate tail of self destruction. I was rooting for him the whole time. Never sure if he would find his way. It was a page turner and a must read for anyone who’s an addict, former addict, parent/family member of addict. This book was riveting. I truly enjoyed every page.

Mark Kasher is so young to have experienced so much adversity growing up in the Oakland School District in the 1990’s. Raised by deaf parents he felt an outsider from the beginning of life. Mental health, drug use, run ins with the law frame the first 16 years of his life. The stark contrast of the wealthy communities adjacent to Oakland make his daily struggle all the more profound. The book was originally published in 2012- the same year he released his comedic Netflix special. Such a happy an improbable ending to a rough beginning. His memoir is well written. Poignant, funny, honest.

There were some brilliant moments in this book, to be sure, especially since it's set in Oakland, a fascinating setting that pretty much writes itself -- all one has to do is take it in and live to tell about it. Some decent writing throughout, making this a somewhat pleasurable read, but not worth the price tag, in the end. Much of the most interesting dynamics (such as Moshe and his deaf mother and father) are left under-explored, given less real estate to instead chronicle in detail his drunken and drug-addled excursions with his degenerate friends that really aren't that shocking or interesting at all. He should have just met with the guys from his past who are still alive to bat around "Member When" stories instead of willing this book into existence. I'm sure that he got more out of writing this book than many will get from reading it.Kasher tries to make drinking, pot smoking, and a little LSD use sound like he's murdering babies in Cambodia -- his hook (see title) isn't enough to make a compelling enough memoir for the 350 pages it lives in. This is a fairly dressed-up, but altogether standard collection of stories you'd hear at a rehab center from people who haven't figured out how to tell their story yet. None of the characters are drawn super in-depth or duplicitous enough to make anyone endearing. Nobody to root for, nobody to care about, even Moshe himself.Moshe's cool, aloof persona isn't enough to carry the otherwise meandering narrative, either. He may very well be entertaining enough in person to ramble on about such things and be compelling, but it doesn't translate to the memoir form. Even when he is revealing the most about himself, he does it in such a way that it's more like he's getting it all off his chest than creating a well-crafted narrative that reveals deeper meaning through the meditation and execution of its telling.The ending feels like a frantic tailspin, too. Tries to cover and gloss over a huge amount of ground as well as the catalyst that causes his change in the end in the last 30 pages. Felt a tiny bit cheated.Probably wouldn't read anything else he writes, but I'd still listen to his podcasts, which are entertaining in small doses.SB