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.
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 man’s relationship with his fearless, rebellious, and fervently religious mother—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 mother’s unconventional, unconditional love.
Non-Fiction Book Review Blog: Born a Crime Review
When John Stewart stepped away from The Daily Show, an announcement was made that Trevor Noah was going to take up the mantle and be his replacement. My first reaction was, who? Of course, I kid, sort of. The face looked familiar but, still, I knew very little of him and his comedy. Surely, being that he was filling some pretty big shoes, someone at Comedy Central had to know what they were doing.
Of course, I had to familiarize myself with him, and what better way than watching one of his sets? Thankfully, Netflix had one, or a few. I don’t remember the name of the special but I do remember watching it with my wife and having a ball, laughing at all of his jokes, and looking for more afterward. We were instant fans.
Not long after securing his new job at The Daily Show, Noah’s book, Born a Crime was published. I’ve seen copies for sale on my many trips to Barnes & Noble, but for whatever reason, I had not yet felt compelled to purchase the book. Soon enough, I purchased a copy, a first edition at that, but still, it took me a few years, seven to be exact, before I came around to reading it. Yes, I know, shame on me. I became a fan of Trevor Noah from his stand-up comedy and his stint on The Daily Show where he further flexed his comedic prowess and was able to add insightful political commentary from an outsider’s perspective being that he was born and raised in South Africa. His commentary allowed me to view things from a different perspective and look at things from within. Born a Crime made me respect the man all the more.
“Learn from your past and be better because of your past,” she would say, “but don’t cry about your past. Life is full of pain. Let the pain sharpen you, but don’t hold on to it. Don’t be bitter.“
– Trevor Noah, Born a Crime
Coming into this book, I expected tons of comedic anecdotes, hijinks, short essays, and musings – laughs galore. Boy, was I completely wrong but, all for the better. What I got was a better understanding of the man as he provided what seemed to be a very thorough insight into his upbringing from his beloved mother and others around him that left both positive and negative connotations that helped shape him into the man he is today. As one would expect, there are tons of things about Noah that I had no idea nor fathomed many of the instances and scenarios he was faced with while growing up in South Africa or the intricacies of his family life which, on more than one occasion, he was was faced with highly challenging situations. What’s more is that Noah was a little rugrat, a deviant doing what was necessary to get by. He weekend approval, I mean, what child did not. Still, he seemed to have a knack for preservering and, despite his difficulties, he seemed to hold his head high, thanks in large part to his religious and very optimistic mother who was more like an angel on his shoulder.
Born a Crime is a culmination of many things: a brief history of growing up during apartheid, a coming-of-age story, family drama, a young man coming to his own and so much more. There were many times when I laughed out loud only to do a complete about-face and be brought to near tears. Noah captivated me. What amazed me was his story, his real story of who he is and not the man that we see on television, the entertainer. Born a Crime is the heartfelt story of Trevor Noah and after reading this story, it cemented my fandom of him all the more.