Kasher in the Rye

Standup comedian Moshe Kasher explores the dark underbelly of comedy — belly laughs ensue

Moshe Kasher

“I couldn’t believe how stupid I was,” writes comedian Moshe Kasher in his new memoir 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 (allusions to the Salinger teen-angst classic fully intended). Kasher brings his act to WOW Hall April 17. “It seemed like, in the face of the most obvious answers in the world,” he continues, “I always chose the dumbest thing to do. It was like I wasn’t in control of my own brain.”  Continue reading 

Hemp Bound

A detailed and humorous look at weed’s straight sister

George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both grew hemp. Fast-forward to 2014, when President Barack Obama signed a Farm Bill into law that relaxed some of the restrictions on growing the crop most likely to have been found on a Deadhead. Michelle Obama won’t be growing hemp in her White House Garden any time soon, but the bill allows research institutions and state departments of agriculture to grow hemp in states where pro-hemp legislation has already been enacted. Oregon is one of those states.  Continue reading 

Turn the page

Winter Reading 2013

Winter would be lost without a new stack of books to enjoy while wrapped up in a blanket, and you can always feel good about sending one more book into the world. This year we bring a little less fiction and a little more of the rest of the written word. So bring on the frightful weather, and help your giftees enjoy it.   Tenth of December By George Saunders. Random House, $26. Short stories. Continue reading 

Winter Reading Top Ten

UO Duck Store Literary Duck Top Ten Here are the books that are hot, many by local and faculty authors, at the UO’s Literary Duck bookstore. 1. ** Counterclockwise: My year of Hypnosis, Hormones, Dark Chocolate, And Other Adventures in the World of Anti-Aging By Lauren Kessler. Rodale Press, $24.99. UO faculty author Lauren Kessler sets off on a personal odyssey, exploring and discovering what it means to get old in our youth-obsessed society.   Continue reading