Publisher's summary
Highest-rated new book of 2016 by Audible customers
Winner: Audible's Best of 2016 - Celebrity Memoirs
In this award-winning Audible Studios production, Trevor Noah tells his wild coming-of-age tale during the twilight of apartheid in South Africa. It’s a story that begins with his mother throwing him from a moving van to save him from a potentially fatal dispute with gangsters, then follows the budding comedian’s path to self-discovery through episodes both poignant and comical. Noah’s virtuoso embodiment of all the characters from his childhood, and his ability to perform accents and dialects effortlessly in English, Xhosa, and Zulu, garnered the Audie Award for Best Male Narrator in 2018. Nevertheless, Noah’s devoted and uncompromising mother—as voiced by her son—steals the show.
Go Behind the Scenes of Born a Crime
Editorial reviews
Editors Select, November 2016 - Just as fans of The Daily Show weren't quite sure what to expect when he was announced as the show's new host, I started Born a Crime not really knowing what I'd find in Noah's book. Comedy? Political and social commentary? Sure, but not in the way I expected. Instead, I was given so much more. Noah's story is intertwined with the final years and aftermath of apartheid-era South Africa. It's a story that begins with Noah's mother throwing him from a moving car to avoid a potentially fatal dispute with gangsters and follows the comedian's path to self-discovery amid episodes both bittersweet and comical. It's eloquent and touching and funny and made all the better with his reading, especially as he recounts anecdotes involving his mother - the true show stealer - and delivers clever turns of phrase as only a top-notch comic and storyteller can. Doug, Audible Editor
The author’s gift for vocal impersonation elevates the audio version into something even more splendid than an already terrific memoir.
- The Washington Post
Through the lens of laughter and love
Everyone knew Trevor Noah was insightful and funny by the time his 2016 memoir came out, but no one was prepared for the funny man’s brilliant performance of his unique and nuanced look at the intersection of his life as a coloured
child in South Africa and the horrors of the system of apartheid. The polyglot makes the Xhosa and Zulu languages of his homeland sing in a way that just wouldn’t have happened on the page. And his comedic and loving take on his formidable mother has made her a character who lives in our minds long after Audible thanks us for listening.
Our favorite moments from Born a Crime
- Born a Crime
- By:Trevor Noah
- Narrated by:Trevor Noah
- Born a Crime
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- Narrated by:Trevor Noah
- Born a Crime
- "No, Mom! This was not thanks to God!"
- Born a Crime
- "Once Mandela was elected, we could finally live freely."
- Born a Crime
- "If my mother had one goal, it was to free my mind."
About the Author and Performer
Trevor Noah found fame as a comedian and TV personality in his native South Africa before becoming a household name in America as the host of The Daily Show. But before he found his gift for satire, he came of age as a storyteller during the waning days of apartheid and the tumultuous freedom that followed. In writing and performing Born a Crime—his first book—Trevor Noah can add “best-selling memoirist” and “audiobook narrator” to his list of hilarious-yet-heartfelt triumphs.
