Alan Kaufman grew up in the Bronx, the son of a Jewish mother who had survived the Holocaust, her mind irrevocably scarred. Growing up under the shadow of his mother's demons, vowing never to become a victim like her, he struggles umcomprehendingly with his Jewish identity. He escapes from his crazy home life and hitchhikes across the US only to summon again the phantoms he had sought to escape. Alan's continued odyssey takes him from an Israeli kibbutz and the Israeli army to his descent into alcoholism and homelessness back on the streets of New York. At last, discovering in poetry the gift that is true to his being, he also finds healing. Kaufman's coming-of-age account is written with irreverent humour and poetic introspection. The book touches on themes rarely explored and far outside the realms of everyday experience--the pain, guilt and confusion of American-born children of Holocaust survivors. But above all it bursts with the universal humanity of a brilliant writer embracing the gift of life. Jew Boy's fierce passion will leave no reader untouched.