#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • More than one million copies sold! A “brilliant” (Lupita Nyong’o, Time), “poignant” (Entertainment Weekly), “soul-nourishing” (USA Today) memoir about coming of age during the twilight of apartheid “Noah’s childhood stories are told with all the hilarity and intellect that characterizes his comedy, while illuminating a dark and brutal period in South Africa’s … illuminating a dark and brutal period in South Africa’s history that must never be forgotten.”—Esquire
Winner of the Thurber Prize for American Humor and an NAACP Image Award • Named one of the best books of the year by The New York Time, USA Today, San Francisco Chronicle, NPR, Esquire, Newsday, and Booklist
Trevor Noah’s unlikely path from apartheid South Africa to the desk of The Daily Show began with a criminal act: his birth. Trevor was born to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother at a time when such a union was punishable by five years in prison. Living proof of his parents’ indiscretion, Trevor was kept mostly indoors for the earliest years of his life, bound by the extreme and often absurd measures his mother took to hide him from a government that could, at any moment, steal him away. Finally liberated by the end of South Africa’s tyrannical white rule, Trevor and his mother set forth on a grand adventure, living openly and freely and embracing the opportunities won by a centuries-long struggle.
Born a Crime is the story of a mischievous young boy who grows into a restless young man as he struggles to find himself in a world where he was never supposed to exist. It is also the story of that young man’s relationship with his fearless, rebellious, and fervently religious mother—his teammate, a woman determined to save her son from the cycle of poverty, violence, and abuse that would ultimately threaten her own life.
The stories collected here are by turns hilarious, dramatic, and deeply affecting. Whether subsisting on caterpillars for dinner during hard times, being thrown from a moving car during an attempted kidnapping, or just trying to survive the life-and-death pitfalls of dating in high school, Trevor illuminates his curious world with an incisive wit and unflinching honesty. His stories weave together to form a moving and searingly funny portrait of a boy making his way through a damaged world in a dangerous time, armed only with a keen sense of humor and a mother’s unconventional, unconditional love.
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Many times memoirs are a disappointment to me. They end up being name-dropping books with no substance. Not this one. I LOVED THIS BOOK. I tore through it in two days. I’ll admit, I read it in his voice 😛 Trevor Noah has lead such an interesting life and I learned so much from it. I highly recommend it!
Although considered for YA audiences, this was a really profound book. A close up look on what it was to be black living in Apartheid South Africa, and informative on history and politics of South Africa. Thought provoking on possible parallels on race relations in the US. And did I say “Very Funny”? Highly recommend.
I love Trevor Noah! He went through a lot of things and still found humor which is amazing. His mom sounds like an amazing woman.
Trevor describes his uncanny upbringing and the related traumas he and his family had to endure in a realistic, yet tongue-in-the-cheek manner. While informative and entertaining, it touches the soul and haunts one long after reading about this period in South Africa’s Apartheid history.
I learned so much about the apartheid in this book, but I absolutely loved the story. You do not even need to know who Trevor Noah is to enjoy this book! Read it!
I learned so much about Trevor Noah that I did not know! Also a lot about South Africa, for my Black History Month (that I’m finally getting around to from 2020). Excellent!
I enjoyed the bo0k and it gave me a view into growing up in South Africa and Apartheid. The one thing that kept me from giving it 5 stars if the constant use of the F-bomb. I realized this isn’t unusual for his generation, particularly with comedians. But I still believe it doesn’t have to be used and you can come up with another way of expressing yourself without that word. Sorry if I sound like a prude but that’s just my opinion.
This book was wild from start to finish. The stories were beautiful and funny and thoughtful and interesting and some were heartbreaking. Getting a glimpse of the history and daily life of South Africans was wonderful.
If you haven’t read or listened to Trevor Noah’s story… stop everything that you’re doing and get to it. Such an amazing story! I do highly recommend listening to this book as it’s read by the man himself!
Amazing personal story and so much history that I had never read before.
this book is funny, sad and beautiful at the same time
Highly recommend the audiobook so you can hear all the accents
I wish I could fathom a word greater than love to express how much I truly connected and absorbed the essences of this book. I recommend you reading it once, then twice for good measure. Trevor Noah really brings to light the often unacknowledged topics that are not only evident in South Africa but also rooted in every black community. He then loops you back in with examples from both he and his mothers first hand experiences. This goes without saying but I’ll give you the honor anyway, like myself by the end of this book Patricia Noah will be your new superheroine.
“Learn from your past and be better because of your past,” she would say, “but don’t cry about your past. Life is full of pain. Let the pain sharpen you, but don’t hold on to it. Don’t be bitter.” Born a Crime is about Trevor’s life growing up in South Africa, up to his adult years. He focuses on his mother, his friends, and some intriguing youthful experiences. I had been meaning to read this book since I heard Trevor speaking about it in 2016 and have recently been pestered by my mom to read it. For good reason as it turns out, as the writing of this book is amazing. I am not normally a fan of nonfiction, but Trevor is engaging and tells his past through stories so that I was never bored. I loved learning about parts of his life that I’d never known before and felt I developed more of an understanding of how he came to be the person he is. I only wish that he’d talked about how he came to the US and his life here. I would recommend this book for any fan of Trevor Noah
Amazing. Noah is so talented. His memoir is funny, tragic and inspiring all at three same time.
Excellent autobiography. Some sad, hard parts, some hysterically funny parts. You leave the book with a feeling of hope for the future.
loved it . love him
Fabulous book and an amazing man. His mom is incredibly strong. I learned so much about Africa and its people and culture and dangers. Wonderful, easy to read book. Perfect for book club!
I loved this book! I actually had no idea who Trevor Noah was before I read this book, but I certainly do now. This book is funny, charming, informative, current, and entertaining. Yes, there are tragic and sad points in the book, but this is real life. Life doesn’t always give you roses, it’s filled with thorns too. I like the way that Trevor takes the high road and looks at the big issues with a big lens and a dose of humor. We all need a bit of Trevor Noah in our lives these days.
Respect to Trevor Noah. Respect to the amazing mother who raised him and encouraged him to really THINK! Before I talk about the book itself, let me encourage you to hear it for the first time as an audio book. Noah is multilingual and rolls through the accents that surrounded him growing up seamlessly. It adds a wonderful element of authenticity that just can’t be replicated in print.
I tend to shy away from celebrity biographies. Just a personal bias I’m afraid. However, Born a Crime came recommended by several friends. And when I saw the audio book was narrated by Noah himself, I decided to take a chance. I’m so glad I did. It is a great read that will open your eyes to not just South Africa, but to racism and poverty on a larger scale.
Born and raised in North America, I grew up hearing bits and pieces about South Africa and Apartheid shared through the lens of local media sources. Very biased and inaccurate. In Born a Crime I instead hear a close and personal account of someone born and raised there. That it was shared by someone who stood outside ALL of the ethic groups – not really accepted as black, white or colored – the perspective shared is unique. The account is very personal and from the heart; and it is shared with great thought, intelligence and insight.
So many things I could share, but I have to pick just a few. Noah makes a statement at the end of a long chapter about his brush with the law that went something like – I now understood the difference between committing a crime and a being criminal. Yes there is a difference. In the book he also talked about how a shared language united people, and how a language barrier divided people. I can’t resist finishing with three more quotes taken from the book as they stand better on their own.
“We spend so much time being afraid of failure, afraid of rejection. But regret is the thing we should fear most. Failure is an answer. Rejection is an answer. Regret is an eternal question you will never have the answer to.”
“Nelson Mandela once said, ‘If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.'”
“People love to say, ‘Give a man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he’ll eat for a lifetime.’ What they don’t say is, ‘And it would be nice if you gave him a fishing rod.’ That’s the part of the analogy that’s missing.”