Born A Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood

such a gorgeously written book; time flew as i read it. its arrangement is pretty haphazard but it all ties together in the end. his story is so unbelievable that it's incredibly memorable.

One of the best audiobooks I've listened too. I'm sure the book would be funny (my BOB kids confirm this is true), but him building and landing the jokes was a treat and I definitely laugh-snorted a few times in the car. I also appreciate how he used the intros to the chapters to give historical and cultural context to his personal stories, as I definitely learned from this book. All BOB team members have given this a super thumbs up!

Mannnnnn Trevor Noah has lived one hell of a life. Listened to the audiobook, I highly recommend it.

Wow!
Amazing memoir.

As I said in progress of reading, mostly at the beginning the book looks like transcibed version of Trever's standup comedies. But later it gets more serious. He have had a life filled with various experiences and he seems to be very brave in speaking about his experiences which some may seem even shameful. His experiences seems to have gave him wisdom and made him somebody who should be respected not just because of his talents but also because of his personality.

An incredible life story, incredibly well told.

“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 the eternal question you will never have the answer to, what if.”

Really Trevor?
You keep the whole book light and hilarious and end on such a gut wrenching note?
The last chapter was heartbreaking.
All in all a good listen, especially if you're sick, after all laughter is the best medicine!

Very well written memoir of the author's years growing up in South Africa during and and majorly post apartheid.

Trevor Noah manages to tell many stories from his childhood. Some are quite emotional, some are inspiring and some are outright hilarious :) All of them are fun to read though.

Most of all, it is clear that Trevor's mother was the most important part of his childhood and the stories of their relationship in this book are really adorable.

The writing is quite smooth and the book never gets boring. Quick and enjoyable read. Definitely one of the must read autobiographies out there.

Listened to this audiobook. Normally I love comedians' memoirs — especially hearing it in their voice and delivery — but this one didn't thrill me. Maybe it's because I came into it with the wrong expectation: that it would be funny. And don't get me wrong, it WAS funny at times, just not in a laugh-out-loud way.

But this was very interesting from a cultural perspective, learning about how prevalent a role apartheid played in his youth (despite that being not so long ago), and his mom is a BADASS lady I loved hearing about. It's dramatic and interesting and eye-opening for sure, but this is a rare instance of a memoir I think I would have actually enjoyed more had I read it on the page vs. listened to it over the course of a few months via auidobook.

A amazing book from an amazing person. As a minority myself I can relate to part of the scene and events on the book. Racist, poverty, and loneliness are a few things I myself have lived through while at the same time laughing at its face. With that said from the first time I came across trevor Noah's comedy, i knew he was going to be someone to follow and observe as he becomes a star among men.
This book being autobiography/comedy was no disappointment. It was an inspiring retell of what he has lived through and is a must read for everyone.

One of my #favoriteread2018

(Beginning part of this review based on a conversation I had last week about it:) It's interesting to me that racism is so much the same everywhere, even though it has some nuance based on the specific location. This book focuses on Trevor Noah's family and the experience of growing up in South Africa during apartheid, during which there were four recognized races: white, black, colored (or mixed race, which Noah was considered to be), and Indian. People who didn't fit into those four boxes were classified into them anyway, even when it made absolutely no sense.

I found Noah's matter-of-fact descriptions of how the races interacted with each other, and how the government worked to keep the races - and even the various groups of people within the races - hating each other for perceived advantages so interesting and so terrifying; we've seen this play out in other places in the world, and what are we doing differently in the U.S.?

I learned a lot from Born a Crime, and I also laughed out loud a lot - it was very thought-provoking, and the history was well-explained through Noah's experiences; he is a good and funny teacher in addition to being a wonderful storyteller. The audiobook was phenomenal, and it was so neat to hear him speak some of the other languages used throughout the book and his life.

(I feel like this review doesn't do this book anywhere near the right amount of justice.)

Executive Summary: This books is a blend of funny, shocking and heartbreaking stories. I'd never have guessed Trevor Noah had been through so much based on his TV persona. His mother is really an amazing woman too.

Audiobook: I don't know if this book would have quite the impact for me if I had read it myself. It definitely wouldn't have been as good if it was read by anyone besides Trevor Noah himself. I'm not always a fan of authors reading their own work but for non-fiction, and especially this book it works really well.

Full Review
I first heard of Trevor Noah, much like I expect many who may pick up this book did; When he was announced as the replacement for Jon Stewart on the Daily Show. My first reaction was who the hell is this guy, and why did they choose him over Jessica Williams or Samantha Bee?

He's really grown on me as he seems to have transitioned from simply filling in for Jon to finally making the show his own. I've had a few people recommend this book to me but I finally bought it when the audio was on sale recently.

The books jumps around a little bit at times but for the most part it chronologically covers the time from when Trevor was born until he started to make it big in both South Africa and the UK.

Trevor tells some unbelievable stories. I don't want to say more than that because I don't want to spoil them. Needless to say I would have never imagined that most of this had happened to him, and I'm amazed that he was able to rise above all the adversity he faced to get where he is today.

I think that's largely (if not entirely) due to his amazing mother. My first impressions of her were a little bit negative, but as the book progressed I came to find out what a truly remarkable person she is.

If you're interested in biographies or Trevor Noah himself, I highly recommend this one. It's not always funny, but there is far more humor than I'd have had if I dealt with even half of the stuff Trevor and his mother did.

One of the best audiobooks I've listened to. Trevor Noah's childhood is akin to the favelas shown in “City of God”. The detail is rich. We move back and forth through the first quarter of his life and the way the story is structured is something to be marvelled at. He brings so much heart into that story that even if you are like me, an urban-dwelling, middle-class guy from India, you could still resonate with the stories. We have our fair share of prejudices, old grannies, ass-whipping mothers, car troubles etc. The part where he geeks out about girls or tech is so relatable, esp his CD piracy days for, ahem, we used to deal in that when we were in school here. That was the only way we consumed foreign stuff and we revelled in it. Not like now when I have Netflix, Prime, YOutube etc.

I was laughing where Trevor wanted me to, I bawled when he wanted me to. He had the story and my heart in his hands and he was twisting every emotion. I will now stop rambling and youtube like crazy where the characters of his story are now.

Trevor! Sun'qhela

4.5 stars. A heartfelt, humorous memoir. A beautiful love letter to his remarkable mother. Well done, Mrs Noah, well done.

I read this book, though I'd really like to listen to the audio book version. It's narrated by Trevor Noah himself, and apparently very, very good. I totally believe that - the man is hilarious on The Daily Show. I still really enjoyed the stories Noah told, though I wish he'd gotten more into his journey as a comedian, and not just his childhood and teenage years.

Noah has an uncanny way of explaining background information that you need to know while not giving away the (actually somewhat obvious in hindsight) punchline. Even the background information is told in an extremely entertaining way - you can feel Noah's everpresent grin through the pages. Even though the book begins (and sort of ends) on a sad note, the book itself is a happy, optimistic one. I didn't laugh myself silly, like the next book I read (Jenny Lawson's Furiously Happy), but I did have to giggle and read parts to my husband. (And he actually laughed at them, instead of looking at me like I was insane, which is what happened with Furiously Happy.)

I've been a fan of Trevor Noah's since shortly after he took over The Daily Show, and this was an interesting peek at his background, and the very different culture he grew up in. I highly recommend this book.

You can find all my reviews at Goddess in the Stacks.

Listening to Trevor Noah tell his story of growing up in South Africa is a stunning combination of raw honesty, resiliency, pathos, and humor. His courage shines throughout.

I don't know exactly what I was expecting when I started this book, but I got a whole lot more than I could have bargained for. Trevor Noah's book is at once educational, insightful, heartfelt, and hilarious. He is a master at starting with a funny personal anecdote and using it to tell you about important realities of life during and after apartheid in South Africa and the hard realities of being poor and black. But at its core, this book is a love letter to his mother. She is a headstrong, independent, and fiercely devoted mother, and the foundation of this book is the love that Trevor feels for her. It shows in every page.

Do yourself a favor and listen to this in audiobook format. Trevor reads it himself, and as he is a South African polyglot, it adds a lot of depth to the text. He peppers the book with phrases in Zulu, Xossa, and Afrikaans. It's worth the listen.

3.5/5
It started out brilliantly, but the last few chapters changed in tone and were something of a downer to end on. For the most part, though, it's insightful and irreverent, and Trevor Noah knows exactly how to make light of a bad situation while still getting you to take it seriously (no easy task!). It was especially fascinating for me, as we're almost the same age, grew up in the same city, but had such different experiences. He even went to the high school where my Aunt taught, and where I knew a few other pupils, but our lives could not have been more different. It's especially fascinating because his experience as a mixed-race child was so different from pretty much anybody else's, black, white or coloured.

I'd have liked to find out a bit about how he got into doing comedy. That's literally not covered at all except in a passing sentence.

I'd have given this 4/5 if it hadn't been for the change in tone at the end, but I'd still absolutely recommend it. Get the audiobook as narrated by him, because he does all the accents and voices, and it's great.

WOW! Truly an amazing book.

Noah gives deep insight into his childhood growing up during apartheid/post-apartheid South Africa. Rarely did he fit in with any of the ethnic circles, but he always found a way through it all - largely due to the strong relationship and respect he had for his mother.

I expected him to talk more about his rise to fame and the transition to professional comedy, but he strongly focuses this book on his childhood. By doing so, he drives a clear message of the cultural challenges he faced and far from the typical “holier-than-thou” tone so common in memoirs.

I'd highly recommend this book to anyone.

Edit 03/25/2019: Counting this as my South Africa Book around the World.

After reading a lot of books that left me disappointed, this was so refreshing.

As someone who reads a lot of celebrity memoirs (and I mean...A LOT), I thought I knew what to expect. Usually, it is a series of essays relying how they became the star they are now mixed with some humor in there. But this was different. I learned so much from this book, and would encourage anyone to read it as well (whether you know who Trevor Noah is or not). It had the self-depricating stories (like his failures with romance), and also included how he learned comedy but in ALL of the essays I learned something. I learned about South Africa, language/linguistics, community, and parenting.

The last couple lines in this book left me teary. Beautiful memoir, nice surprise.

Honestly, the stories in this almost could be a movie. It's very interesting, but also incredibly sad, as well as a bit uplifting. If you like celebrity memoirs in any way (as I do), this is pretty much a must-listen.

I borrowed this book because of the story. I didn't know much about Noah beyond a couple of YouTube videos that commented on political issues and an interview with President Obama.

This is a powerful book. Of course there is humor in the book, but this is a serious book. I can identify with Noah in a number of ways while finding new insight into a life I can't imagine.

Noah paints pictures with his words, illustrating the meaning of privilege in a world of inequality. He shows how poverty can trap generations of people who work hard to escape without the tools and education to do it. The struggle of domestic violence and loving someone who hurts.

I did not expect to be confronted with the weight of the serious topics. Nor did I expect the time of honesty and disclosure that surfaces in the book.

For me, this book have me a glimpse of the pain that bias puts people through. Not just racial bias. Noah shows that answers are easy to give while solutions are difficult. I see the reality of a sin sick world that can only be cured by God. I do not know where Noah stands in relation to God (he does not shy away from profanity), but he gives the testimony of his mother a spotlight for the world to see the power of her faith.

I would recommend this book to those who are interested in better understanding prejudice and poverty and the subtle ways society contributed to these forces. Noah uses profanity liberally, so that is something a reader will have to consider in approaching this book. For myself, what I gained from the reading well outweighed the profanity.

I would rate this book at 4.5, but since some of his memories triggered some of my long-forgotten memories, both pleasant and unpleasant, and for that I'll give it 5 stars.
The book is actually quite poorly written in my opinion. I'd say it's like an extended Daily Show where he talks about growing up in South Africa. It's quite funny to notice how many things we had in common, though we grew up at different times and in opposite parts of the world.
His view on apartheid I would describe as a sequel to Nelson Mandela's “Long Walk to Freedom”. Mandela's book concludes with the first major victory against apartheid and Trevor Noah describes what followed, not from a politician's perspective, but that of a coloured boy, teenager, and later adult.

This isn't a breezy celebrity memoir cashing in the resultant media exposure after taking on the Daily Show from John Stewart. This is more a loving tribute to Trevor Noah's dauntless mother who raised a coloured child in apartheid Africa. Noah is the product of his Xhosa mother and Swiss-German father - literally born a crime during a time where inter-racial relations could by punishable by 5 years in jail.

With a comedian's sense of timing and a gift for storytelling Noah tells us about never being able to walk with his father in public, to never hold his mother's hand outside. Of hiding indoors with his imagination. But he peppers the stories with an examination of the inevitability of crime in this environment, institutional racism and the unstoppable determination of his mother in the face of all this.

It ends up being a jaw-dropper of a story that stops well before Noah enters our collective consciousness as a comedian and host. Surprisingly moving and wildly compelling.