Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood

#1Â NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER â€¢Â The compelling, inspiring, and comically sublime story of one manâ€™s coming-of-age, set during the twilight of apartheid and the tumultuous days of freedom that followed

NAMED ONE OF PASTEâ€™S BEST MEMOIRS OF THE DECADE â€¢ NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Michiko Kakutani, New York Times â€¢ USA Today â€¢ San Francisco Chronicle â€¢ NPR â€¢Â Esquire â€¢ Newsday â€¢ Booklist

Trevor Noahâ€™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 parentsâ€™ 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 Africaâ€™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 manâ€™s relationship with his fearless, rebellious, and fervently religious motherâ€”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 motherâ€™s unconventional, unconditional love.

Praise for Born a Crime

Â â€œ[A] compelling new memoir . . . By turns alarming, sad and funny, [Trevor Noahâ€™s] book provides a harrowing look, through the prism of Mr. Noahâ€™s family, at life in South Africa under apartheid. . . . Born a Crime is not just an unnerving account of growing up in South Africa under apartheid, but a love letter to the authorâ€™s remarkable mother.â€â€”Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

â€œ[An] unforgettable memoir.â€â€”Parade

Â â€œWhat makesÂ Born a CrimeÂ such a soul-nourishing pleasure, even with all its darker edges and perilous turns, is reading Noah recount in brisk, warmly conversational prose how he learned to negotiate his way through the bullying and ostracism. . . . What also helped was having a mother like Patricia Nombuyiselo Noah. . . . ConsiderÂ Born a CrimeÂ another such gift to herâ€”and an enormous gift to the rest of us.â€â€”USA Today

â€œ[Noah] thrives with the help of his astonishingly fearless mother. . . . Their fierce bond makes this story soar.â€â€”People
Country USA
Manufacturer One World
Binding Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate 2016-11-15
UnitCount 1
Format Kindle eBook

Country	USA
Manufacturer	One World
Binding	Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate	2016-11-15
UnitCount	1
Format	Kindle eBook

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood

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