Book Review: Subculture Vulture

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.

Subculture Vulture was published on January 30, 2024. Random House provided a galley for review.

I have been a fan of Moshe's comedy for several years. With every appearance, I've found him to be a fascinating individual whom I wanted to know about more. I'm glad he decided to continue to tell his own story here. His first book was Kasher In the Rye from 2012 where he covered his first fifteen years of his life (I need to read that one).

There were many moments reading this one that I found myself laughing out loud. When Moshe describes the history and tenants of AA, the evolution of house music, or the injustices against the deaf community, he does so in such an off-the-cuff yet totally hilarious manner that thoroughly entertains. In the end, not only did I know more about his life up to this point, but I also learned a few things too (sort of).