Comedian Moshe Kasher Publishes New Memoir About Addiction

Kasher isn’t the first comedian to work his way through an addiction and come back around to talk about it on the stage – but he’s one of the most recent ones to publish a memoir that gets into the nitty gritty details of his experience with drugs and alcohol. His new book is called 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 and it makes readers laugh while they live through his battle with addiction vicariously.

Growing up in Oakland, Kasher was exposed to hard drugs early on – and he didn’t turn them down when he had the chance. His teen years were characterized by crazy events. He tells the story of being walked on a leash by his mother, a leash that he chewed through and ran away. It’s a story definitely designed to get the laughs but it deals with very real subject matter at the same time, a comedic addition to the drug memoir literary genre.

Working Through the Past

Even for non-writers, journaling and writing about your drug history can be a great way to work through the details of your experience. Writing everything down gives you a chance to chronicle the events, to think about them on paper, turning over in your mind and on the page the reasons why things might have happened. Many are surprised that the distance provided by time and the clarity that comes with sobriety makes past events so much more clear than they once were. It’s easier to understand why you made certain choices and what happened when you look at specific events in the context of your entire history.

Learning From the Past

When you understand your past, you are better able to learn from your mistakes. For example, you may not have taken responsibility for your actions in the past but when you take a look at what led up to certain events or considered your attitude you may be able to see your part in what happened. Accepting responsibility is a huge part of recovery, as is learning how you came to certain decisions in the past so that you can learn how not to repeat those mistakes in the future.

If you would like to learn more about recovery and how we can help you heal through drug rehabilitation here at The Orchid, call now for more information about our programs.