Friday, November 14, 2008

About Kenny Kahn’s book, The Carny Kid


The Carney Kid, Survival of a Young Thief, by Kenneth Kahn


Hardcover: 224 pages
Publisher: Pendant Press (January 2005)
ISBN-13: 978-0976111504
ISBN-10: 0976111500
Copyright © Kenneth Kahn 2005


Kenny Kahn bares his funny soul and shares his unbelievably poignant life experiences in this incredibly inspiring, highly motivating memoir.


"Kenny Kahn and I have been legal contemporaries for three decades, and now to read about his early life, I know readers will be clamoring for more." - Robert Shapiro, Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorney

"Kenny's story should be required reading for every teenager!" - Jim Molina, Principal, Lincoln High School, Los Angeles


From the Projects to the Penthouse. As the only Jewish family in the Ramona Gardens housing projects, Kenny tells the spellbinding story of being the oldest child of two small-time carnival thieves who make their living as traveling gypsies and then graduate to dealing heroin from their cockroach-infested apartment. It's an inside view of carnival life, of living in a cocaine-selling "shooting gallery" apartment and of surviving a gang-dominated existence in one of L.A.'s worst neighborhoods.

It's also a story of the grit and determination of one small child, a child named Kenny Kahn, who saw education and hard work as the golden path and the only sure way to escape his tortured environment.

Mr. Kahn has written his story in plain language in order to make it easily readable not only adults but by young people who feel trapped by their "delinquent" parents, and to offer hope for escaping to a better life.

This poignant memoir of Kahn's childhood in the projects, and the training his substance-abusing parents provided him to become a carnival hustler, takes many twists and turns as it wends its way from the days of conflict in his environment to Kahn's present profession as a criminal defense lawyer.


Rubbing elbows today with the world's most powerful and elite, Kahn's clients include famous characters like Andrew Daulton Lee (the notorious "Snowman" in the espionage trial later made into the movie, "The Falcon and the Snowman;" and publisher Larry Flynt, who was charged with contempt for wearing an American flag diaper to court; and singer Ike Turner, who faced charges of violating probation on a cocaine charge.

Throughout the book, Kenny Kahn injects his unique, humorous take on his own life story, which is to say this book is a page turner. Every chapter is a new adventure, full of the realities of The Carny Kid's life growing up in an environment of dishonesty and abuse - and the techniques of humor, education and hope the author employed to cope, survive, prosper and move to new, more rewarding levels of existence.

Get the whole story. Be entertained. Be inspired.


Cheers!


Harry





4 comments:

Vivian Zabel said...

Interesting post, Harry. I'm now interested in Kenny's book.

http://vivianzabel.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

WOW! Interesting life and interesting book. It's a must read for me.

Great job posting Harry!

Karen Cioffi said...

Kenny's book sounds so interesting. This is a great post.
Thanks, Harry.

Karen Cioffi-Ventrice

deborah said...

Harry... very impressive guest you have here. Sounds like someone I would love to talk politics with! I grew up in the 60's and participated in quite a few "movements" myself! oh yeah, and The Carney Kid sounds like an interesting peek into such a different lifestyle.