Born-Crime-Stories-African-Childhood-eBook

Review

An engaging, fast-paced and vivid read . . . Essential reading not only because it is a personal story of survival, leavened with insight and wit, but because it does more to expose apartheid – its legacy, its pettiness, its small-minded stupidity and its damage – than any other recent history book or academic text (GUARDIAN)

It’s no surprise that Trevor Noah, the slyly suave successor to Jon Stewart as host of The Daily Show, should write a smart book. But ‘smart’ doesn’t begin to cover what he pulls off in Born a Crime . . . Noah’s memoir is extraordinary . . . essential reading on every level. It’s hard to imagine anyone else doing a finer job of it (SEATTLE TIMES)

Powerful… The story of his life is full of chase scenes in which he runs, hell for leather, from spankings, from the long arm of the law, and from the swinging fist of his stepfather... a unique perspective (THE TIMES)

A soul-nourishing pleasure, even with all its darker edges and perilous turns, reading Noah recount in brisk, warmly conversational prose how he learned to negotiate his way through the bullying and ostracism . . . is an enormous gift (USA TODAY)

A BOOK TO READ NOW (WALL STREET JOURNAL)

A memoir with heft... The interracial coupling that produced him really was a crime, making him an outsider. But he thrives with the help of his astonishingly fearless mother. (At one point she tosses him from a moving car — driven by gangsters — to save his life.) However brutal South African history is, their fierce bond makes this story soar (PEOPLE, Best New Books)

Noah has a real story to tell — and tells it well… A little scary, but trust me — it’s funny (NEWSDAY)

An affecting memoir. . . a love letter to his mother (WASHINGTON POST)

Mind-blowing as f*** (COSMOPOLITAN)

Noah proves a gifted storyteller, deftly lacing his poignant tales with amusing irony (ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY)

Book Description

One of the comedy world’s fastest-rising stars (‘SLICK, INTELLIGENT AND BLISSFULLY FUNNY’ Time Out) tells his hilarious and moving coming-of-age story during the twilight of apartheid in South Africa and the tumultuous days of freedom that followed.

From the Back Cover

A BOOK TO READ NOW, WALL STREET JOURNAL

‘Powerful, charming and clever’ THE TIMES

‘Witty and brilliant’ O: THE OPRAH MAGAZINE

‘A memoir with heft . . . this story soars’ PEOPLE, Best New Books

Trevor Noah was BORN A CRIME – not because he could answer back in five languages; not because his mother threw him out of the window of a moving car; not because he shoplifted; not because he accidentally burnt down someone’s house with a magnifying glass; not even because he took Hitler to a bar mitzvah – but because this was South Africa and his mother was black and his father was white . . .

‘Moving stories that will leave you laughing’ BILL GATES

‘Raw, compelling and by turns alarming, sad, and funny. . .’ NEW YORK TIMES

‘A soul-nourishing pleasure’ USA TODAY

‘A remarkable memoir leavened with insight and wit, Born a Crime does more to expose apartheid – its legacy, its pettiness, its small-minded stupidity and its damage – than any other recent history or academic text’ GUARDIAN

About the Author

Born under apartheid to a black South African mother and a white European father, Trevor Noah’s improbable rise to stardom led to his sold-out one-man show at the 2012 Edinburgh Fringe Festival that became one of the most talked-about shows at the festival that year. He has appeared on QI, 8 Out of 10 Cats, The Royal Variety Performance and Live at the Apollo. In 2015 Noah succeeded Jon Stewart as host of The Daily Show.

From the Publisher