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csmicsun's review against another edition
5.0
One of the best memoirs I’ve ever read. Very funny as well.
precki's review against another edition
5.0
Trevor Noah is very funny. And all of it shows in this book. It also gets a little deep. We heard some of the childhood trauma when watching his comedy shows but there's a lot more under the surface that this book digs into.
nancypolo's review against another edition
5.0
Trevor Noah's memoir is excellent to read after Tanahesi Coates' Between the World and Me. Noah's exploration of Apartheid is fascinating. He exposes the insanity of its false logic and dismantles assumptions that are easy to make from a distance. There is no clear solution to hundreds of years of malicious social programming. Noah's strength and humor allowed him to release his past and fully embrace the present. It is his mother's greatest gift to him.
Any mother of a precocious and challenging child will enjoy this book. Not only did this naughty child beat apparently insurmountable odds, he blossomed into a thoughtful, loving man with a wonderful career and appreciation for life.
None of this sugar coats or forgives systematic racism. The realistic glimpse that Noah gives us of South Africa is sobering. With his humor and resilience, however, he left me feeling hopeful and eager to discover more ways to actively subvert prejudice and ignorance. As beautiful and necessary as Coates' book was to read, I need authors like Trevor Noah to remind me to find grace. We did not create racial injustice, but we must learn to disarm it, while embracing all the joy that exists in spite of it. This is the only way to eradicate Apartheid in South Africa, and all other systems based in hatred.
Any mother of a precocious and challenging child will enjoy this book. Not only did this naughty child beat apparently insurmountable odds, he blossomed into a thoughtful, loving man with a wonderful career and appreciation for life.
None of this sugar coats or forgives systematic racism. The realistic glimpse that Noah gives us of South Africa is sobering. With his humor and resilience, however, he left me feeling hopeful and eager to discover more ways to actively subvert prejudice and ignorance. As beautiful and necessary as Coates' book was to read, I need authors like Trevor Noah to remind me to find grace. We did not create racial injustice, but we must learn to disarm it, while embracing all the joy that exists in spite of it. This is the only way to eradicate Apartheid in South Africa, and all other systems based in hatred.
laurafs325's review against another edition
4.0
Fascinating memoir of Noah's early life growing up in the end of apartheid and what came after. I strongly recommend the audio version, read by Noah himself, to get the full effect of the language.
tangocil's review against another edition
4.0
great story telling, fascinating insight into south africa. as a series of short stories it was good, but not as a novel. frustrated me at times.
sheilaconfer's review against another edition
5.0
This book was riveting. Trevor Noah's reading of it is the best way to truly absorb this amazing story. Noah is a master storyteller, brilliant cultural commentator, and all around talented guy.
kabbw's review against another edition
4.0
Wow. Reading this, it seems a wonder that he even survived his childhood, let alone made himself the man he is today. Interesting read, for sure.