Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood

Executive Summary: This books is a blend of funny, shocking and heartbreaking stories. I'd never have guessed Trevor Noah had been through so much based on his TV persona. His mother is really an amazing woman too.

Audiobook: I don't know if this book would have quite the impact for me if I had read it myself. It definitely wouldn't have been as good if it was read by anyone besides Trevor Noah himself. I'm not always a fan of authors reading their own work but for non-fiction, and especially this book it works really well.

Full Review
I first heard of Trevor Noah, much like I expect many who may pick up this book did; When he was announced as the replacement for Jon Stewart on the Daily Show. My first reaction was who the hell is this guy, and why did they choose him over Jessica Williams or Samantha Bee?

He's really grown on me as he seems to have transitioned from simply filling in for Jon to finally making the show his own. I've had a few people recommend this book to me but I finally bought it when the audio was on sale recently.

The books jumps around a little bit at times but for the most part it chronologically covers the time from when Trevor was born until he started to make it big in both South Africa and the UK.

Trevor tells some unbelievable stories. I don't want to say more than that because I don't want to spoil them. Needless to say I would have never imagined that most of this had happened to him, and I'm amazed that he was able to rise above all the adversity he faced to get where he is today.

I think that's largely (if not entirely) due to his amazing mother. My first impressions of her were a little bit negative, but as the book progressed I came to find out what a truly remarkable person she is.

If you're interested in biographies or Trevor Noah himself, I highly recommend this one. It's not always funny, but there is far more humor than I'd have had if I dealt with even half of the stuff Trevor and his mother did.