Jamie S. (pghpens) reviewed Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood on + 58 more book reviews
I love Trevor Noah even more after reading this book. He uses his wittiness to recount the days of his childhood in South Africa, but he educates us all on what it was like to live under the horrors of apartheid. Just as it is important to read about the Holocaust, this book will enlighten readers about the oppression of the black and colored people of the pre Nelson Mandela era. As a middle school teacher, I would recommend this book to reader over the age of 14.
This was amazing. I do not understand how there are people who thought this was bad. My first thought is that it's white people who just don't/won't get what growing up black is like, but I don't want to be that person.
As a black woman growing up in racist America, even I cannot imagine what it was like to grow up like Trevor did. Apartheid... I just can't imagine. I've experienced racism, but DAMN! I thought this was a brilliant story about his life and the fact that he was unapologetic made it that much better. Why should he apologize? And no wonder he turned to comedy. Yikes! His life was fully a humor, but sadness and fear were very prevalent. I cried when he spoke about his mother being shot and how he thought he had lost her. I was so angry that nothing was ever done about his waste of space step-father. The only parts I skipped were anything with the dogs being abused, or if/when they died. I cannot do animal abuse or death even if the death is just of old age.
Excellent listen.
As a black woman growing up in racist America, even I cannot imagine what it was like to grow up like Trevor did. Apartheid... I just can't imagine. I've experienced racism, but DAMN! I thought this was a brilliant story about his life and the fact that he was unapologetic made it that much better. Why should he apologize? And no wonder he turned to comedy. Yikes! His life was fully a humor, but sadness and fear were very prevalent. I cried when he spoke about his mother being shot and how he thought he had lost her. I was so angry that nothing was ever done about his waste of space step-father. The only parts I skipped were anything with the dogs being abused, or if/when they died. I cannot do animal abuse or death even if the death is just of old age.
Excellent listen.
ANDRE' E. J. (Expeditious) -
Simply extraordinary.
Elizabeth R. (esjro) -
This book is wonderful. It made me laugh out loud and made me cry in the same chapter. Trevor Noah intersperses brief spurts of information on the history and policies of apartheid with anecdotes from his own life growing up in South Africa. He mentions his comedy career only briefly as the stories are from his childhood and very young adult life. It is heartbreaking to read about the conditions Trevor and his mother lived in, yet this book is also a story about how love can allow one to rise above their circumstances.
I hope that there is a follow up book to this, because his work on The Daily Show only hints at what an intelligent, sensitive, and funny person Trevor Noah is.
I hope that there is a follow up book to this, because his work on The Daily Show only hints at what an intelligent, sensitive, and funny person Trevor Noah is.
true stories of his growing up in South Africa during Apartheid and its ending. His mom was black and his dad was white which was a crime under apartheid. stories about his mom, about his teen years, and about S Africa.
Kathleen W. (catsandbooks) reviewed Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood on + 68 more book reviews
Interesting account of South Africa from a child's viewpoint. Unfortunately, was only able to get through the first part of the book before reading about psychopathic tendencies made me ill. Maybe this was supposed to be funny, but it didn't read as such.
