In Which I Wimp Out About Trevor Noah’s Memoir.

Book cover of Trevor Noah's autobiography, Born A CrimeBorn a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah, available in multiple formats from multiple outlets. Visit the author’s website at trevornoah.com.

I have never watched The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, so it made no blip my on my radar screen when he left the show and Trevor Noah, a South African comic, was installed as his replacement. I had heard Noah being interviewed on NPR about his memoir; he sounded funny (good for a comedy show, I guess) and self-deprecating, with a lovely, lilting British-sounding accent.

At some point I needed to get an audio book to take advantage of a freebie from Audible.com; by that time we had watched a number of video clips from TDS featuring Noah and thoroughly enjoyed his eviscerations of Donald Trump and American voters in general.

I’m always interested in outsiders’ views of the US. So I went ahead and redeemed my credit for his book. He reads it himself, so you get a double whammy of his personality.

Why do I say that I’m wimping out? I’m recommending it, aren’t it?

Well, yes, but with reservations–mainly because of the language. If all the four-letter words were cut out this would be a much shorter book. You should read it for a number of reasons, but the two main ones are that 1) you will find out from a firsthand account how truly awful apartheid was, and 2) you will meet Noah’s remarkable, remarkable mother, Patricia. She is the true hero of this book. And you’ll also find out how bad caterpillars taste.

I’m leaning on someone else’s review for the bulk of this post, another instance of my wimpiness. This article is from one of my conservative website faves, The Federalist. I think the reviewer is reading Noah through somewhat rose-colored glasses, but so be it. If you’re persuaded by my somewhat mealy-mouthed post and this guy’s review to read or listen to the book, I think you’ll be glad you did.

“Trevor Noah’s Memoir Will Surprise You with His Take on Religion and Politics”

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