<p>Kenny Kahn 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 apartment in the housing projects of Los Angeles. It's an inside view of carnival life, of living in a cocaine-selling &quot;shooting gallery&quot; apartment and of surviving a gang-dominated existence in one of LA's worst neighborhoods.</p>

<p>It's also a story of the grit and determination of one small child who saw education and hard work as the golden path and the only sure way to escape his tortured environment. How public school teachers mentored and inspired this streetwise kid is a story in itself and one that directly impacted Kahn's educational achievements.</p>

<p>Mr. Kahn wrote this story for adults and for young people who feel trapped by their &quot;delinquent&quot; parents, to offer hope for escaping to a better life. The Carny Kid takes many twists and turns as it wends its way from days of conflict to Kahn's present profession as a criminal defense lawyer. Rubbing elbows with the world's most powerful and elite, Kahn's clients include famous characters like Andrew Daulton Lee (the notorious &quot;Snowman&quot; in the espionage trial later made into the movie, &quot;The Falcon and the Snowman;&quot; 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.</p>

<p>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.</p>