Trevor Noah’s “Born a Crime”

I have a confession to make. When my friends post books they like, I check out a description of the book to see if I would like it too. That makes my compulsion to look up the menu for the restaurants my friends are eating at because of my obsession with food seem mild by comparison. Right? Please tell me I’m right…

“Born a Crime” was one of these books. I had seen Trevor Noah before hearing of the book, but not really connected his name to more than his talk show comedy bits.

Here’s the deal. I can’t review or evaluate the way someone speaks of their lived experiences. I can say if you don’t like being made to think about what systemic racism has done to marginalised ethnicities, you won’t like this book. There’s a lot of moments where some might see themselves in a role later to be determined that of the oppressor. What I can say is that he does it with a great deal of vulnerability and humour. There’s a common thread in how our generation interacts with a generation of parents everywhere, and he captures that exquisitely, right down to how there’s an entire group who would beat us senseless as children and pretend to be pacifists the entire time as they age.

If you like funny stories that might make you question a few of your beliefs and values, this is the right book for it. If not, I don’t think you’ll ever like it, even if it could change your mind.

 Would I Read it Again?: Yeah. While I am not rushing out to buy it right now, if I ever saw it at the bookstore I might pick it up. The stories have reread value.Rating: A 5. I can’t really think of anything negative to say about this book, and it made me laugh out loud more than once.