Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

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

Praise & Accolades

Instant Classic #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • More than one million copies sold! A “brilliant” (Lupita Nyong’o, Time), “poignant” (Entertainment Weekly), “soul-nourishing” (USA Today) memoir about coming of age during the twilight of apartheid

“Noah’s childhood stories are told with all the hilarity and intellect that characterizes his comedy, while illuminating a dark and brutal period in South Africa’s history that must never be forgotten.”
—Esquire

"You will laugh and cry at the same time"
—Scoreboard Books

Awards & Nominations

Awards:

• Thurber Prize for American Humor
• NAACP Image Award Outstanding Literary Work
• NAACP Image Award Outstanding Literary Work Biography/Autobiography
• NAACP Image Award Outstanding Literary Work Debut Author
• Audie Award for Best Male Narrator

Nominations:

• Audie Award for Best Male Narrator
• Audie Award for Autobiography/Memoir
• Audie Award for Audiobook of the Yea
• NAACP Image Award Outstanding Literary Work Biography/Autobiography
• Audie Award for Narration by the Author(s)
• NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work Debut Author

Named one of the Best Books of the Year:

• The New York Times
• USA Today
• San Francisco Chronicle
• NPR
• Scoreboard Books
• We Review Books
• Esquire
• Newsday
• Booklist

About the Book:

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.

About the Author

Trevor Noah is a South African comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He was the host of The Daily Show, an American late-night talk show and satirical news program on Comedy Central, from 2015 to 2022. Noah has won various awards, including two Primetime Emmy Awards.