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Subculture Vulture

A Memoir in Six Scenes

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Subculture Vulture

By: Moshe Kasher
Narrated by: Moshe Kasher, Larry Wilson
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About this listen

 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A “hilarious” (Dax Shepard), “surprisingly emotional trip” (The Chainsmokers) through deep American subcultures ranging from Burning Man to Alcoholics Anonymous, by the writer and comedian Moshe Kasher

“Part history lesson, part standup set and, often, part love letter . . . Kasher’s ability to blend humor with homework works almost too well.”—The New York Times

After bottoming out, being institutionalized, and getting sober all by the tender age of fifteen, Moshe Kasher found himself asking: “What’s next?” Over the ensuing decades, he discovered the answer: a lot.

There was his time as a boy-king of Alcoholics Anonymous, a kind of pubescent proselytizer for other teens getting and staying sober. He was a rave promoter turned DJ turned sober ecstasy dealer in San Francisco’s techno warehouse party scene of the 1990s. For fifteen years he worked as a psychedelic security guard at Burning Man, fishing hippies out of hidden chambers they’d constructed to try to sneak into the event. As a child of deaf parents, Kasher became deeply immersed in deaf culture and sign language interpretation, translating everything from end-of-life care to horny deaf clients’ attempts to hire sex workers. He reconnects and tries to make peace with his ultra-Hasidic Jewish upbringing after the death of his father before finally settling into the comedy scene where he now makes his living.

Each of these scenes gets a gonzo historiographical rundown before Kasher enters the narrative and tells the story of the lives he has spent careening from one to the next. A razor-sharp, gut-wrenchingly funny, and surprisingly moving tour of some of the most wildly distinct subcultures a person can experience, Subculture Vulture deftly weaves together memoir and propulsive cultural history. It’s a story of finding your people, over and over again, in different settings, and of knowing without a doubt that wherever you are is where you’re supposed to be. Jewish Heritage Performing Arts Comedy Memoir Funny Witty Fishing San Francisco
All stars
Most relevant
While in a few fleeting moments I found the text to border on irritating self congratulation and obsession, far more of the book was deeply compelling, insightful, informative and even moving. It’s not consistently funny, and never borders on trauma porn, but it is consistently interesting - moving between personal experiences and wider ranging historical narratives. There’s no self pity in the authors tone, even through real hardship and failure, just an inexhaustible curiosity for what is next, which I suspect is part of what took his life from addiction to a life less ordinary. There are more than a few moments where I really feel a true spark of deep insight- particularly when he describes the way a community of like minded people can band together to create something more than the sum of its parts, such as in the CODA chapter which I feel might be some of the most compassionate and thoughtful words I’ve read so far about the power of lived experience and peer groups in creating change which results in improved autonomy and advocacy both for the peer group itself and society as a whole. I read a LOT of biographies and this one is one I will look to purchase in hard copy so I can revisit some of the phrases. I didn’t know his comedy at all prior to this, I found a recommendation in StoryGraph app prior to publication and am glad I added it to my Wishlist to download once it was published, but I will be seeking it out now! Anyway, I feel confident he’ll be unable to stop himself reading these early reviews and just want to say thank you for sharing your story, from an Aussie subculture vulture (long live live music!) who really resonated with many of the feelings you shared on the deep impact and enduring meaning subcultures have on our hearts and souls.

Chaotic life scaled up and down to deliver nuggets of insight that apply at micro and macro level

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