I was familiar with his standup, in which he talks a little about his difficult life. It's well written, and I ended up finishing it in two sessions because it's a compelling story. He has great insights into why his life took a left turn, and it was quite satisfying to see him navigate his life back on track. ( )

I first became awarevof this Jewish comedian from his show Moshe Kasher: Live from Oakland, which was very funny. He has since played parts in some TV series and films, has a podcast, and a show called The Honeymoon Stand Up Special with his wife Anita Leggero. This book is about his childhood before age 16 where he struggled with serious mental health and substance abuse issues. His life reads like the 2nd half of the Gold Finch except there was no previous trauma that triggered this behavior. He had an unusual childhood because both of his parents are deaf, they divorced and lived on different coasts, and his father joined the Satmar Hasidim. Anyway the book very honest but more disturbing than funny. ( )

MBD is an @$$#0!&, is ostensibly the takeaway from this book. Well, no, not really. The takeaways are actually numerous, and valuable, and among them are: how low one can sink despite one's best conscious efforts, where salvation can come from, how violence can sometimes not have a reason other than children can be just plain stupid, how scared straight often has no long term effect, and how real one can get when it matters. Kasher gets high marks for his sense of humor, and he peppers spottable absurdities into the narrative that can clearly be seen as mockeries/falsehoods, and not facts, due to his sharp and clear style. At the end, though, once he has the reader hooked, he stops with the silliness and faces his reality in a bold way. Good for him for the path he's taken since. His book is quite fascinating. ( )

This book was a huge disappointment. I expected it to be the story of how Moshe Kasher became such an awesome comedian. But that's not what it's about, at all. It's about his fucking childhood. Seriously, from like birth, until he gets his fucking GED at 16. Like I fucking care about that shit? Fuck no.

I wanted to read about how he first got on stage. How he bombed horribly. How he got gang raped in the alley, behind the club. How he went home crying, to his mommy. But no. It's not about that at all. It's just fucking bullshit about how his parents are deaf, and life is so hard... Cry me a fucking river. I don't fucking care.

Okay, the bit where his mother asked him if he was a faggot every Sunday, after church... That shit was funny. Because, come on, Moshe Kasher is the faggotest guy who ever lived. I mean look at this guy...



Of course his mother thinks he's a faggot. But she assures him that it's okay. It's fine, if you're a faggot. Which it is, of course. But he denies it. Every Sunday, he tells her that no, he's not, in fact, a faggot. Sure, buddy. Keep telling yourself that.

The book goes on and on about how Moshe tried to get in gangs. Yea right. This faggot tried to get into gangs? Seriously? He'd chip a nail! Then he rants about stealing shit, and doing drugs, and going to rehab over and over. I just can't see it, man. It's got to be fiction.

There's no way this faggot got into gangs, stole shit, did shit tons of drugs, and all that bullshit. There's just no way. He must have just pulled these stories out of his ass, because I don't believe a fucking word of it.

And don't give me shit about using the word 'faggot', you fucking assholes. It's just a word. Get over it. I'm a big fat faggot myself. But even if I wasn't, it's just a goddamn word. And don't tell me it doesn't apply to Moshe Kasher, because seriously... Just look at the guy. There's no fucking way he's straight. There. I said it. ( )

A great memoir from a great young comedian who's already seen a lot from life. I really enjoyed the voice, the humor, the asides. I got weepy two or three times, and so will you unless you're a monster. Much like Catcher in the Rye, I think many young people would see themselves in this kid's story, even though the details probably differ widely from those of tier own lives. ( )