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5 Stars - Superb book!!


Words cannot describe how much I love this book and yet here I am writing a review. You may know Trevor Noah as (to my knowledge) the most well-recognized African (South African to be exact) comedian or as the newish host of the satirical news program The Daily Show. Full disclosure, I love Noah's comedy style and his stand-up shows (at least the ones on Youtube and Netflix) as well as The Daily Show. However, even if his comedic style isn't your type this book is worth reading.

In Born a Crime, Noah weaves the story of his childhood and young adulthood with history and implications of Apartheid, and his mother's life. This book seems part autobiography and part history book. In other cases that combination may not work but for Noah and his story the reader must understand, at least on a basic level, Apartheid and how it shaped Noah's life.

I'm ashamed to say that before reading this book I didn't know much about apartheid. Yes, I knew what it was and that Nelson Mandela was instrumental in bringing it down but I had no idea how it worked. Noah explains that as a form of control over the black South Africans, white people divided, categorized and pitted the black South Africans against one another. The two main groups were: Zulu and Xhosa. Noah describes Apartheid as perfect racism. It was well studied and carefully implemented. Noah says it best:

"In America you had the forced removal of the native onto reservations coupled with slavery followed by segregation. Imagine all three of those things happening to the same group of people at the same time. That was apartheid." p. 20

This book gives a nice introduction to apartheid while simultaneously learning about the author's life.

Now, let me address the title. He was born to a black mother and white father: a crime. I had to take time and think about what that title meant. Noah describes some of the things he had to endure because he was not supposed to be born by apartheid standards, at least with the parents he had. I'm still struggling to wrap my mind around the concept. It's something that I, a white woman, cannot relate to in the least bit but it's important to learn and understand.

While I can't relate to the discrimination and ostracization Noah, and black South Africans more generally, faced I can relate to certain elements of his upbringing. The big one is the Christianity. Noah's mom was a devout Christian. Three different church services, at three different churches every Sunday, that's what Sunday held for the author. God and Jesus were the center of all decisions. This is something I can relate to. My parents were devote Christians and so were their children - in name at least. I won't say much more because his church experiences were so similar to mine and I don't want to give it away. Just read the book. (Sidenote: thankfully my parents aren't that.... let's say devoted anymore and haven't been for awhile).

The last thing I'd like to touch on is his mom. As much as this book is about Trevor Noah, it's just as much about his mom. At times, this book reads like a beautiful, heartbreaking ode to his mother. She worked her ass off and defied the odds. She went against the grain of what was expected of a woman but of a black South African woman. That translated into the way she raised her son. It's fascinating to read about their relationship because in the context of South Africa during and even after apartheid what she did was so unusual. She faced riots, sexism, domestic violence, and (view spoiler)[being shot in the face (hide spoiler)]. There is no other word for her other than incredible, a powerful force.

So, with all of that being said, or written, please do yourself a favor and go read this book. You won't can't be disappointed.