A review by steamedcheese
Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah

adventurous funny hopeful reflective fast-paced

4.5

I really enjoyed this memoir!!!! As you can expect from Noah, the book is extremely fast-paced and witty. I was also impressed with the amount of self-awareness and the careful reflection with which he wrote the book. At the end of the day, this memoir was a love letter to his mother--  a good one at that. The topics were interesting and they appealed to the audience which I believe Noah is writing to -- a middle-upper class bunch of Americans. He is a media star, so I have to wonder what elements of his life were excluded or shifted to paint him in a greater light. That is not to say that the memoir was exclusively complimentary of Noah. He poked plenty of fun at himself, but from the perspective of an older, wiser version of himself. As if to say, "I already see my flaws, so if you point them out later, we are just laughing together." I also really enjoyed reading about the experience of growing up under the Apartheid. I found his descriptions honest and his voice very conversational.