In “Subculture Vulture,” Kasher details his experiences within six different communities. First comes his story of how he grew up in Young People’s Alcoholics Anonymous after landing in rehab at the age of 13. He then immerses himself in sober partying and drug selling within the San Francisco rave scene. He parlayed his experience as the child of deaf adults into a year-long career as a professional sign language interpreter, before a stint at the entrance to Burning Man and, eventually, a career in comedy. And, of course, there’s his time in Brooklyn.
These condensed accounts of his life serve as part history lesson, part monologue, and often part love letter. “My mother loves masturbation. it’s nice of her stuff. Farts and masturbation,” he writes in the chapter on deafness. Kasher spares no details about his penchant for a particularly loud vibrator or his blatant flatulence. (None of which, he reminds us, his mother can hear.) He describes being the hearing child of two deaf parents as a “non-consensual sign language interpreting internship program.” Still, by the end of the chapter, Kasher’s affection for his mother and the deaf community is unmistakable.
It’s here where Kasher’s research shines, revealing detailed stories that might surprise readers who, for example, know Alexander Graham Bell only as the inventor of the modern telephone and not as the villain Kasher so colorfully describes that you’ll want to write . textbook publishers around the world are demanding that they correct the record.
Kasher’s ability to combine humor with the task works almost too well. You may be wondering, “That can’t be true, right?” And on some occasions, the answer is indeed “no,” although Kasher points out when that is the case, for example after giving a particularly graphic description of an AA founder’s penis.
“I’m allowed to do whatever I want and no review committee will ever come to my charge or report me for academic censorship,” he quips, granting himself enough comedic license to make you wonder what else Kasher could have manipulated for a laugh. (To be fair, there is a long list of research materials and fact-checkers in the sources section at the end of the book.)
