Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The compelling inspiring and comically sublime story of one man’s coming-of-age set during the twilight of apartheid and the tumultuous days of freedom that followedNAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Michiko Kakutani New York Times • USA Today • San Francisco Chronicle • NPR • Esquire • Newsday • Booklist 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.Praise for Born a Crime “[A] compelling new memoir . . . By turns alarming sad and funny [Trevor Noah’s] book provides a harrowing look through the prism of Mr. Noah’s family at life in South Africa under apartheid. . . . Born a Crime is not just an unnerving account of growing up in South Africa under apartheid but a love letter to the author’s remarkable mother.”—Michiko Kakutani The New York Times “[An] unforgettable memoir.”—Parade  “What makes Born a Crime such a soul-nourishing pleasure even with all its darker edges and perilous turns is reading Noah recount in brisk warmly conversational prose how he learned to negotiate his way through the bullying and ostracism. . . . What also helped was having a mother like Patricia Nombuyiselo Noah. . . . Consider Born a Crime another such gift to her—and an enormous gift to the rest of us.”—USA Today “[Noah] thrives with the help of his astonishingly fearless mother. . . . Their fierce bond makes this story soar.”—People

Hardcover: 304 pages

Publisher: Spiegel & Grau; Later prt. edition (November 15 2016)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0399588175

ISBN-13: 978-0399588174

Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 1 x 9.5 inches

Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds