Born A Crime: Stories From A South African Childhood – Trevor Noah

Trevor Noah, born in 1984 to a black mother and a white father in South Africa, was literally born a crime. His memoir tells the tale of growing up under apartheid, never fitting in because he was neither black nor white, and surviving the violence of the political system in South Africa and in his home.

Born A Crime was not exactly the book I thought it would be.  I figured it would start with Noah’s childhood in South Africa, but eventually move on to his comedy career, which led him to being named the host of The Daily Show in 2015.  Instead, the book is focused completely on his childhood and young adult years in South Africa, with the only mention of his burgeoning career coming when he has to pay the hospital bills after his mother was shot by his step-father.

I didn’t have much understanding of the ins and outs of apartheid coming in to this.  Noah paints a picture of a complex system that was more involved than what I was taught (granted, all I was taught was the apartheid was bad), keeping the ruling class in power by playing the different African tribes against each other.  It was a near miracle for Noah to have even been born, let alone to have thrived and become an international star.