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deckanddaughter's review against another edition
5.0
Wow. As one who doesn’t normally enjoy non-fiction, especially biography style stuff…this was incredible. I’ve been a fan of Trevor for awhile so that isn’t entirely surprising. He’s got a talent for injecting what may be a simple story with humor, heart, intrigue, awe, grief. Just everything. The full spectrum.
I particularly enjoyed the chapters about the covert poop that caused an exorcism and the ones explaining the community supportive based “money lending” through street hustling and piracy.
And the last chapter regarding his mother and her harrowing experiences- wow. The best punchline for a fantastic memoir.
(Also, I listened to this as an audiobook and very grateful it was narrated by Trevor himself. I don’t think anyone else could have done it. Not only because of all the linguistic aspects (loved hearing snippets of all the languages that he experienced and learned growing up) but because of the emotional nuance. The audio version is super worth it!)
I particularly enjoyed the chapters about the covert poop that caused an exorcism and the ones explaining the community supportive based “money lending” through street hustling and piracy.
And the last chapter regarding his mother and her harrowing experiences- wow. The best punchline for a fantastic memoir.
(Also, I listened to this as an audiobook and very grateful it was narrated by Trevor himself. I don’t think anyone else could have done it. Not only because of all the linguistic aspects (loved hearing snippets of all the languages that he experienced and learned growing up) but because of the emotional nuance. The audio version is super worth it!)
claudiabookturtle's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.25
biffylal's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book. As a Trevor Noah fan I loved reading about his upbringing, and as someone who is fascinated by various cultures it just added that special it factor.
I would highly recommend this to everyone and anyone. Especially in the current race movement. He speaks about what it was like growing up mixed race in a South Africa and just about race in general.
Some pages had we glued, others had be cry laughing, others had me relating, worrying or sad.
It's definitely a must-read for everyone and I have no doubt I will be rereading it in the future.
I would highly recommend this to everyone and anyone. Especially in the current race movement. He speaks about what it was like growing up mixed race in a South Africa and just about race in general.
Some pages had we glued, others had be cry laughing, others had me relating, worrying or sad.
It's definitely a must-read for everyone and I have no doubt I will be rereading it in the future.
hli's review against another edition
5.0
Not only was this an insightful read from his perspective growing up during the apartheid of Africa, but he is a terrific and hilarious story teller. I haven’t laughed out loud reading a book in such a long time. He is street smart, intelligent and what a beautiful testimony of his life to share.
lizbeachy's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
I read this book before travelling to South Africa for field school. It was really helpful in learning about the lived experience of South Africans during apartheid and set me up with knowledge to reflect on while I learned and experienced things on my trip. Trevor Noah’s writing combines elements of humour and emotion in a way that blend seamlessly and make this biography such an enjoyable read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Gun violence
maribee3's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this autobiography! “Born a Crime” is a very informative and informative biography that tells about Trevor Noah’s childhood in South Africa. There is so much I didn’t know about South Africa and apartheid that is included in this book. Along with being educational, this biography can be funny, sad, and relatable at times. Many times I found myself being so excited to start a new chapter and learn about a new story from Noah’s life.
books_w_bex's review against another edition
5.0
Fantastic memoir. Trevor Noah is such an interesting unique person. His mom tho. OMG. Highly recommend listening to the audiobook.
scohen_'s review against another edition
4.0
I understand i am like 10 years late to this but ummm i learned so much about south africa. Just saying i literally never learned about apartheid in school…??
valentinavc's review against another edition
5.0
Trevor Noah is one of the stand-up comedians who I can tell is really a feminist. Having watched my fair share of stand-up, almost ALL male stand-up comedians make jokes about women; sometimes funny, most times deprecating and enforcing stereotypes. Sure you can joke about anything they say, but it is quite refreshing to see someone’s performance without feeling uncomfortable at all.
He isn’t assuming those values for his popularity or anything. You can see he truly grew up respecting women and thinking it is naturally the way. From his shows I kind of got the sense that it has something to do with his mother, and in this book (especially the last chapter which I couldn’t stop listening to until I finished it) we found out why. We saw that he was ignorant too, and it definitely takes one a lot of reckoning to truly understand the harm in domestic violence and how truly helpless the female victims are; and he was able to make those realizations. I really do hope many people would read this book to the end to not only learn the life of Trevor Noah but also his mother. Hopefully it doesn’t take an incident as traumatic as this for every men to realize what kind of world women has been living in, and what they need to do to help. Hopefully reading this book would be enough.
He isn’t assuming those values for his popularity or anything. You can see he truly grew up respecting women and thinking it is naturally the way. From his shows I kind of got the sense that it has something to do with his mother, and in this book (especially the last chapter which I couldn’t stop listening to until I finished it) we found out why. We saw that he was ignorant too, and it definitely takes one a lot of reckoning to truly understand the harm in domestic violence and how truly helpless the female victims are; and he was able to make those realizations. I really do hope many people would read this book to the end to not only learn the life of Trevor Noah but also his mother. Hopefully it doesn’t take an incident as traumatic as this for every men to realize what kind of world women has been living in, and what they need to do to help. Hopefully reading this book would be enough.