The compelling, inspiring, and comically sublime New York Times bestseller about one man’s coming-of-age, set during the twilight of apartheid and the tumultuous days of freedom that followed.

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.

The Bookish Bro Says

I knew about Trevor Noah and watched a few of his videos on Youtube before I knew about his book. To me, he was some guy who came out of nowhere and hosted his own TV show. And much like how I gave his show a shot, I gave his book a shot; and both of his works delighted me greatly. Trevor is a funny guy. He started out as a comedian before he hosted The Daily Show. But before he was any of these things, he was a ‘coloured’ kid living in South Africa during apartheid. 

In his book, he wrote eighteen essays that were chock-full of humour, wit, emotion, wisdom, heart, and a dash more of humour.  Born A Crime had me giggling and laughing at the beginning and crying at the end. It was very much a rollercoaster ride through the author’s life. 

Aside from getting to know Trevor Noah, I had my eyes opened to apartheid and the struggles that black people had to go through during that period in time. I am glad I got to learn about apartheid through his book because, I confess, I didn’t know about it until I read Born a Crime. 

This book also made me realize a whole lot of things in life, like how you should learn from your past, about love, about how one should treat another human being, about being different, about the power of prayer. Most of the nuggets of wisdom from this book, I got from Patricia Noah (Trevor’s Mom). And I strongly suggest you read this book, if not for Trevor then for Patricia. I fell in love with Trevor’s mom through this book, and I fell in love with their bond. It felt like reading about characters from a YA fantasy novel, but what made it better was that I knew it happened for real. 

If you’re looking for a book that entertains and educates, I highly suggest giving this one a chance. Trevor Noah is a genius on stage and on paper!

RATING : ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Author

Trevor Noah is a comedian. (That’s literally all that’s written on the About the Author part of the book.)