Review of The Carny Kid

As published on Amazon.com:
East L.A. Story: Rising Above the Projects of Los Angeles
Reviewer: James Barnes, Editor, www.IndependentPublisher.com
Traverse City, Michigan

We seldom hear the life stories of people like Kenny Kahn, because people like Kenny usually don't live long enough to TELL their stories. Fortunately, this child of heroin-addicted, con-artist parents did survive, and he shares his tale with a frankness and humor that belies the hardship he experienced. It was the late Fifties in booming, optimistic America, and gangs, ghettos and junkies seemed an unlikely development in sunny southern California. But this was the harsh reality of the only Jewish teenager in the Ramona Gardens projects of East L.A.

Virtually on his own from age five, and living by his wits and creativity, Kenny found safe havens from a roach-infested home and gang-ridden neighborhood in school, library, sports—even Hebrew confirmation classes. Afraid to seek help from the authorities but in constant fear of his parents’ raging addiction and neglect, he found outlets for his pent-up aggression on the football field and his thirst for affection with neighborhood girls.

Kenny sees it all: carnies, gang members, and people of every class, color and circumstance, with colorful names like Horseface Joe and No-Sox Bob. He learns about humanity from the bottom up, discovering that human goodness exists at every level -- sometimes in the most unexpected places. His perseverance and tolerance are fully tested during a serious bout with polio and a grueling rehabilitation period to regain his ability to walk. The battleground of his childhood years had prepared him well, and he fights to succeed and graduate at the top of his class. Today he's a prominent defense attorney who has helped bring justice to the lives of immigrants, minorities and indigents.

This book is a testimonial to gritty determination and personal achievement, by a classic American “self-made man.” A promised second book will cover Kenny’s college years in Berkeley, California, smack in the middle of the Vietnam-era social/sexual revolution. I look forward to the next leg of this incredible journey.