Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood
AuthorTrevor Noah
LanguageEnglish
GenreAutobiography
PublisherSpiegel & Grau
Publication date
November 15, 2016
Media typePrint (Hardback)
Pages304
ISBN978-0-399-58817-4

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood is an autobiographical comedy book written by South African comedian Trevor Noah, published in 2016. The book focuses on Noah's childhood growing up in South Africa after he was born of an illegal interracial relationship during the apartheid era. The book was a bestseller and has received overwhelmingly positive reviews.

Narrative

The book details Trevor Noah's experiences growing up in Johannesburg, South Africa during the apartheid era. Noah's parents were a white Swiss-German father and a black Xhosa mother; at the time of Trevor Noah's birth in 1984, their interracial relationship was illegal under the Immorality Act. According to Noah, "for [him] to be born as a mixed-race baby" was to be "born a crime."[1] Interracial relations were decriminalised when the Immorality Act was amended in 1985. As a mixed-race person, Noah was classified as a "Coloured" in accordance to the apartheid system of racial classification. Noah was raised primarily by his mother and her family in Soweto.

In large part, the book is a paean to Noah's mother, Patricia Nombuyiselo, who grew up in a hut with fourteen occupants. Noah describes his mother as being stubborn, fearless, and an extraordinary teacher. She was a fiercely religious woman who took her son to three churches every Sunday, a prayer meeting on Tuesday, Bible study on Wednesday and youth church on Thursday, even when black South Africans were rioting in the streets and most people were cowering in their homes.[2]

The book opens with young Noah being thrown out of a minibus by his mother because she thought the driver, a man from another South African tribe, was going to kill them. Noah develops social and mental agility, using his fluency in languages to break barriers to his acceptance as a mixed race child. Growing up in poverty, he finds independence by earning money from selling illegal bootleg CDs, first at school and later on the streets of the notorious neighborhood of Alexandra. Noah describes the struggle of living with his abusive stepfather Abel. Through it all, his mother administers tough love and "old-school, Old Testament discipline".[3] When Noah is arrested while driving an unregistered car taken from Abel's workshop without permission, he describes his fear of doing time in prison, and his mother lays down the law about crime and punishment. The book ends with the story of Patricia being shot in the head by Abel while she was returning from church with her family, and her miraculous survival.

Reception

Published in November 2016, Born a Crime[4] was received favorably by major U.S. book reviewers.[2][1][3][5] It became a No. 1 New York Times Bestseller and was named one of the best books of the year by The New York Times, Newsday, Esquire, NPR, and Booklist.[5] In early 2017, its title was used as a clue in the New York Times Crossword Puzzle,[6] and has been used two more times, in 2019[7] and 2020.[8]

U.S. senator Tammy Duckworth cited Born a Crime as the book that inspired her to write her 2021 memoir Every Day Is a Gift, in which she relates her experiences as the child of a white American father and a Thai mother.[9] First Lady Jill Biden, an English professor at Northern Virginia Community College, assigned Born a Crime as required reading for an introductory English course.[10]

Film adaptation

In 2018, it was announced that the memoir would be adapted into a film starring Lupita Nyong'o as Patricia, Noah's mother. Nyong'o was set to produce the film with Noah through his production company, Ark Angel Productions.[11] In March 2018, Liesl Tommy was hired to direct the film,[12] which would be produced by Paramount Players.

References

  1. 1 2 Darden, Jeneé (2017-02-18). "Born a Crime: A Memoir of Love, Hope, and Resistance". Los Angeles Review of Books. Los Angeles Review of Books. Archived from the original on 2021-01-28. Retrieved 2017-03-18.
  2. 1 2 Kakutani, Michiko (2016-11-28). "'Born a Crime,' Trevor Noah's Raw Account of Life Under Apartheid". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2021-03-08. Retrieved 2017-03-18.
  3. 1 2 Seymour, Gene (2016-11-14). "Trevor Noah recalls childhood under apartheid in new memoir". USAToday. Gannett Company. Archived from the original on 2020-10-30. Retrieved 2017-03-18.
  4. ↑ Noah, Trevor (15 November 2016). Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood. New York: Spiegel & Grau. ISBN 978-0399588174.
  5. 1 2 "Born a Crime by Trevor Noah". Penguin Random House website. Penguin Random House. Archived from the original on 2016-10-01. Retrieved 2017-03-18.
  6. ↑ ""Born a Crime" NYT Crossword". NYT Mini Crossword. Retrieved 2017-02-10.
  7. ↑ "NYT Crossword Solutions for Sunday, June 2, 2019". NYT Crossword Tips. Retrieved 2023-06-13.
  8. ↑ "NYT Crossword Solutions for Thursday, August 6, 2020". NYT Crossword Tips. Retrieved 2023-06-13.
  9. ↑ "After Words Senator Tammy Duckworth". C-SPAN. April 1, 2021. Archived from the original on April 16, 2021. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  10. ↑ Bice, Allie; Thompson, Alex (February 10, 2022). "Jill Biden wants you to read Trevor Noah's book". Politico. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
  11. ↑ "Lupita Nyong'o to Star in 'Born a Crime' Based on Trevor Noah's Memoir". 21 February 2018. Archived from the original on 8 December 2019. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  12. ↑ Clement, Olivia (27 March 2018). "Tony Nominee Liesl Tommy to Direct Trevor Noah Biopic Starring Lupita Nyong'o". playbill.com. Archived from the original on 30 April 2018. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
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